


Peripeteia

by HoodieHeda



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: AU, Actress AU, Celeb au, F/F, Fluff, no one dies
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-11
Updated: 2016-07-16
Packaged: 2018-05-26 00:16:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 40,163
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6215935
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HoodieHeda/pseuds/HoodieHeda
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The first time Lexa Woods met Clarke Griffin, it was on the side of a busy LA road and almost completely by chance.<br/>Up-and-coming actress Lexa is cast opposite established actress Clarke in a new TV show, and things snowball. Lexa was happy to work with Clarke once, but it seems casting directors think they should always come as a package, and so they're cast together again, and again, and again. No one complains.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Not a damsel (but definitely in distress)

**Author's Note:**

> This has been bouncing around my brain for a while, and I guess The Incident in 3x07 pushed me to finish this.  
> Shoutout to Maddy (laurholls on tumblr) for both the title and for being an A+ gal in general.  
> The character tags and most likely the rating will change as the chapters are uploaded, and I can guarantee that all the characters will make an appearance in this fic.  
> Hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

_ The first time Lexa Woods met Clarke Griffin, it was on the side of a busy LA road and almost completely by chance. _

Lexa doesn’t cry.

At all.

But if she was going to, now would be the time.

She was  _ so close  _ to landing a lead character in a major network show and would be guaranteed work for the next few months if it came through. Which meant she’d get paid; something she was  _ really  _ looking forward to after her long hours at several waitressing jobs just to pay rent.

Or at least she  _ would _ get paid, if her car hadn’t just completely given up while she was driving to the chemistry read with her future castmates.

She slammed the car door shut and hit the hot bonnet with a frustrated slap, striding over to the sidewalk and pulling out her phone. It was early in the morning in LA, and she had absolutely no idea what bus she’d even have to catch to get to the studio. She had called the recovery unit as soon as she broke down, and was mid-way through dialing for a no doubt horribly overpriced cab when a sleek sports car pulled up behind hers.

The window rolled down and Lexa walked cautiously over. She ducked down to see the driver and was surprised to see a mane of blonde hair and a very familiar face looking back at her.

_ Clarke Griffin _ .

She thinks she may have said it out loud because Clarke laughs before nodding at the car in front of her, “Need a ride to the studio? I may have had a little peek at the headshots for potential co-stars yesterday and I’m pretty sure you were on there.”

Lexa could feel a truly unfortunate blush creeping up and over her collar bones, and she glanced at her dead car before quickly agreeing and making her way over to the passenger side.

Clarke flashed her a quick smile before pulling off the curb, leaving Lexa staring determinedly out of the front windscreen.

Where this could be Lexa’s first big break, Clarke had been an established and successful actress for years. She had started off doing downright terrible horror films, and she was 22 when she was cast in an independent film that made it big, and Clarke was suddenly everywhere.

It’s not that Lexa was following her career  _ closely  _ or anything; she’d only watched Clarke’s most recent work because it was critically acclaimed. Lexa ignored the small voice in the back of her head telling her that she absolutely could not make the same excuse for watching all of Clarke’s horror films.

_ More than once. _

Clarke cleared her throat and glanced her way, “You okay over there? Alexandria, right?”

Lexa spoke through her suddenly dry mouth, “Actually I prefer Lexa, but-”

“Lexa it is then,” Clarke leaned over the wheel to check the road was clear before pulling onto the main road, her brows scrunched in concentration, “Nervous for today?”

Lexa tried to relax a little and sunk back into her seat, but her slight frown must have given her away and Clarke shook her head at herself, “Sorry, stupid question. I remember how I was before my first big audition. What a mess.”

She huffed out a breath of laughter and it coaxed a smile from Lexa, whose nerves were swiftly giving way to a creeping fondness. Feeling brave, she raised an eyebrow, “I can’t imagine you being bad at much, if I’m being honest.”

Clarke made a soft noise in the back of her throat and lifted her elbow to rest on the car door as the traffic slowed, “You’d be surprised, but I appreciate the sentiment.”

Silence fell again, but unlike when Lexa had first entered the car, it was a comfortable one. The radio was playing quietly in the background and Clarke’s car was blasting cool air to combat the rising humidity of the day, and Lexa was finally relaxed.

“So, Mountain Men was your first movie right?”

Relaxed enough to say something monumentally stupid apparently.

Clarke let out a bark of laughter, “Wow, I thought you said you couldn’t imagine me being bad at anything?”

Lexa ducked her head slightly, “I said I couldn’t imagine  _ you _ being bad at anything, the movie, however…”

Clarke was smiling as the traffic picked up again and she accelerated, “God I hope you didn’t watch that thing-”

“Oh, I did.”

“I’m truly sorry you witnessed that.”

Clarke shook her head but was grinning widely. She ran her tongue along the inside of her cheek and raised an eyebrow in challenge at Lexa, “Like you’ve never done a shitty project just to pay the bills.”

Lexa tilted her head in agreement, vivid memories of a colourful BINGO commercial flashing through her brain, along with the image of a very large, very heavy costume shaped like a strawberry. 

_ That one will come back to haunt me. _

She glanced at the time and her stomach  _ dropped. _

The chemistry read started in 3 minutes and after a frantic look at their surroundings, they were still at least 10 minutes away from the studio.

Clarke caught her panicked stare and looked at the clock herself before smiling, “They’re going to struggle to do the chemistry read without me; I’ve already been cast as Emily. I’ll call ahead though, let Nathan know what happened with your car and everything.”

Clarke stopped at some traffic lights and pressed a few buttons on her dashboard. Lexa was confused, “Nathan?”

Clarke nodded, “Nathan Miller, the showrunner?”

They set off again and Lexa continued, “Yes, I know who he is, I just didn’t realise you were on a first name basis.”

“Old college friends, I have so much dirt on him it’s almost cruel.”

The dial tone rang through the car speakers and Lexa zoned out a little, taking in what Clarke was wearing for the first time.

_ White sundress, black leather jacket, boots, sunglasses… stop staring at your potential castmate. _

Lexa blinked and looked away, unable to get the ruffled blonde hair out of her mind even as she watched the traffic flit by. 

She knew Clarke was attractive,  _ everyone _ knew Clarke Griffin was attractive. She knew she was supremely talented and hardworking. And now she knew she was the sort of person who kept used parking tickets from  _ years _ ago in the dashboard shelf and had a mini-Australian flag dangling from her rearview mirror.

She was struck with the realisation that she want to know  _ so much more. _

_ Shit. _

She heard Clarke’s raspy laugh and “see you soon” to Miller and scrambled for a topic of conversation that wasn’t “your smile is really pretty”.

“So you’re from Australia, right?”

Not perfect, but it would have to do.

Clarke’s eyebrows lifted, “What gave it away? The accent or the tiny flag swinging inches from your face.”

Lexa rolled her eyes, “Neither, it’s common knowledge, and your accent really isn’t that strong. Do you miss it? Australia, that is.”

Clarke shrugged, “Moved out here about 10 years ago when dad got nominated for his Oscar and realised he couldn’t keep coming and going. 14 year old me was  _ not  _ impressed. I go back to visit extended family pretty often anyway, so I don’t think I do.”

Lexa allowed the conversation to die down and noticed they were approaching the gates to the studios. A brief glance through the window and the security guard waved them through. Clarke pulled up near the entrance and turned to Lexa, “You can jump out, I’ll go park up and join you in a few.”

Lexa opened the door but turned back, “Thank you for saving me from the side of the road.”

Clarke winked, “Not all heroes wear capes.”

Lexa groaned and slid out of the car, refusing to look back even as she heard Clarke’s laughter through the open window. She hurried up the steps to the studio and showed her ID and papers to the harried looking PA very clearly waiting for them.

_ Aaaand now the nerves set in. Great. _

* * *

Nathan Miller barely hid his grimace as he watched another potential Detective Jaime Cooper stutter through lines with Clarke, who he could tell was doing everything in her power to relax the other woman. It was a solid hour into the chemistry read and he was beginning to wonder whether the issue was with the script, because none of the actresses that had impressed them at auditions were impressing them now.

He cleared his throat and waved at them to stop, smiling at the girl, “Thanks, that’s all we’ll need today.”

She smiled a little thinly and left the room, leaving Nathan with his writers and Clarke, whose smile instantly dropped off her face.

She approached the desk with a grimace, “That was… That wasn’t great.”

Miller snorted, “Bit of an understatement there, is it the script?”

“The script is fine, I just feel like I’m wading through toffee with these girls. Nothing  _ clicks _ .”

He had to agree, while normally he believed a good script and good actors made up for a lack of  _ brilliant _ chemistry, there hadn’t been any chemistry shown at all today so far, and they only had two actresses left.

He glanced down at his call sheet, “Bring in… Alexandria Woods.”

“Lexa, she’s- it’s Lexa,” Clarke corrected quickly, seeming a little embarrassed even as she paced back over to the stage area with her script. Miller watched her curiously, “She’s the one I drove here today, her car broke down-”

“And Clarke came to my rescue.”

Miller watched Lexa walk over to Clarke and exchange hellos. He eyed her confident stride and the way her posture just  _ screamed  _ power.

He also noticed how comfortable she and Clarke were around each other already.

_ Interesting _ .

“Okay, we’re just going to start where both of your characters are at the crime scene. Emily is pissed at Jaime because she thinks the detective may have destroyed evidence during the chase.”

Miller was used to watching Clarke become someone completely different, but Lexa was  _ transformed _ . Not only that, but the scene quickly became 50% improv, and the dialogue devolved into what he wanted to call  _ banter _ .

He looked to his right to find his lead writer smiling at him.

_ I guess we’ve found our Detective. _

* * *

Lexa breathed a sigh of relief as she left the room, quirking her lips in response to Clarke’s encouraging little grin.

_ I think that went well… I hope it went well. _

It was the best chemistry read she can remember doing for a project. The second they began the scene Lexa felt comfortable and confident in the character, even able to add a few smartass quips of her own as she settled in. She hoped Miller didn’t mind the off-script stuff; Clarke started it so she figured it was okay.

Clarke was…  _ wow _ .

She got this intensity in her eyes when she acted a part she enjoyed. She used her whole body and projected the part so perfectly. Lexa could see why she got the role.

She wandered out to the parking lot before remembering exactly  _ where _ she parked her car that morning.

_ Shit. _

She looked around despondently and pushed her hair back in frustration. 

_ I could ask Clarke for a ride. _

She quashed that idea as soon as it appeared. Though it was a resilient idea and kept dodging her mental stomps, popping up gleefully every few seconds.

It was quite annoying.

Thankfully, she didn’t need to deliberate long, and once again a sleek sports car pulled up next to her.

“Do I sense a damsel in need of rescuing? Again?” Clarke had rolled down the passenger side window and was sending her a shit-eating grin, her eyebrows raised over her frankly  _ ridiculous  _ aviator sunglasses that Lexa absolutely  _ did not  _ find attractive.

Lexa climbed in and thanked her as she strapped in the seat belt.

Clarke was popping some gum in her mouth, and she paused briefly to address Lexa, “Do you have twitter?”

Lexa looked at her skeptically, “Yes, why?”

Clarke smirked, “No reason.”

Narrowing her eyes, Lexa remained silent but kept her gaze trained on Clarke.

“Seriously, no reason, forget it.”

She raised an eyebrow.

Clarke caved, “Okay so you can’t tell anyone yet, at least until, say… 6pm tonight.”

The sun was high in the sky and beating down on them, and Clarke’s car had accumulated quite a lot of heat while sat in the parking lot. Lexa fiddled with the A/C on her side in an attempt to remain casual.

Clarke flicked on her blinker and turned right out of the studios, “Nathan said I could tell you that you got the part.”

Lexa choked.

On air.

She’s not sure how, but she managed to make herself cough with enough force that Clarke was sending her genuinely concerned looks from the drivers seat, “Shit, do I need to pull over?”

Lexa shook her head frantically, taking the water bottle that Clarke handed her and gulping down the contents. She took a few deep breaths and sighed back into her seat.

_ I got the part. _

“I got the part.”

Clarke was smiling again even as she navigated the heavy LA traffic, “You did, I’m also super glad you didn’t die just then because let me tell you, we’d have struggled to find a replacement.”

Lexa went for a cocky shrug but thinks the soft smile spreading across her face may have negated the effect somewhat, “I’m pretty hard to replace.”

“Oh my God you’re the worst.”

“Apparently I’m the best.”

“I can’t believe I have to work with you.”

Lexa grinned at that and took out her phone, “Am I allowed to tell my agent?”

Clarke nodded, swinging the car onto a side street and accelerating, “Of course, they’ll find out soon anyway. Just make sure nobody says anything until you get the okay.”

Lexa dialed Indra and waited impatiently for her to pick up.

_ I got the part. _

Indra answered the phone in typical fashion, “Lexa.”

“I got the part!”

Silence, and then, “Of course you got the part, the show would have been fools to pick someone else.”

She sounded stoic, but Lexa could hear the smile hiding behind her words.

They chatted for a few more minutes, specifically about the contract and shooting schedule, and then Lexa hung up the phone. She itched to text Anya, or Gustus, but managed to restrain herself. It wouldn’t do her any good to piss off her bosses within hours of getting the part.

Clarke glanced over, “So, where exactly am I taking you? Because I hardly think your car is in any shape to get you back home, if it’s even still there.”

Lexa groaned, “I’m so sorry, I forgot you didn’t know where I live-”

“I mean, it would’ve been concerning if I did.”

Lexa told her the address and Clarke nodded, turning up the radio a little and driving in a comfortable silence. By the time they reached Lexa’s apartment block, Clarke was singing quietly under her breath and Lexa was humming along.

They pulled up along the sidewalk and Clarke cut the engine, stopping Lexa as she moved to leave the car, “Wait a second-” she pulled out her phone, switching to the camera, “-first cast selfie?”

Lexa eyed her for a second before leaning back over the centre console, close enough to be in frame but still an inch between her and Clarke. Clarke had other plans, apparently, and crushed the side of her face to Lexa’s, giving the camera a winning smile and kindly not commenting on the slightly stunned look in Lexa’s eyes.

Clarke nudged her, “Generally, people smile in pictures…”

Lexa rolled her eyes as she laughed and was about to smile for the camera, only Clarke had already taken the picture.

Mid-eye roll.

Clarke let loose a loud bark of laughter, “ _ Perfect.” _

“Clarke, c’mon.”

Lexa tried to grab the phone to no avail, but Clarke artfully avoided her wild flailing until she gave up, “ _ Fine _ , I give up. Happy?”

“I will be once I get your number.”

Lexa pursed her lips in an attempt to suppress her smile and they exchanged numbers. Clarke left her outside her apartment building with a cheery wave and a promise to text her later, and Lexa was alone. She climbed the stairs to her apartment and slumped ungracefully onto the couch.

_ I got the part. _

She didn’t remember falling asleep, but the next thing she’s aware of was her phone beeping incessantly next to her.

Grumbling, she sat up and rubbed at the spot of her cheek that was pushed against the couch cushion. She unlocked her phone and her eyes widened at the sheer number of twitter notifications on it. Checking the time, she noted it was 6:03pm, and then very quickly found the source of the commotion.

 

**@theRealGriffC:** Super excited to be working with this lovely lady on a new show on @TheArkNetwork, go follow her! I swear she’s friendlier than she seems in the pic @LexW00ds pic.twitter.com/jDAEOK3Ji9

 

She quickly turned off twitter notifications and only then noticed the missed call from her publicist, Titus. She groaned and padded into the kitchen.

She’d deal with Titus later.

She wanted to enjoy the moment first.


	2. An ear kink? To be determined

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Clarke Griffin is a Thirst Machine Frat Boy and Lexa is somewhat bemused. Raven and Anya make an appearance, and Clarke and Lexa start shooting their new show.

Clarke was alerted to Raven’s return home by a loud groan and the slam of the door. She had been holed up in her room on her bed and reading the script for the pilot episode, which they started shooting tomorrow. It had been weeks of table readings, cast rehearsal and costume fittings, and it was finally time to start filming.

It had also been weeks of texting Lexa, something she was reminded of as she pushed her way out of her bedroom and checked her phone. There was a message from Lexa, something about Anya being obnoxious. Anya was also an actress and, from what she had garnered from their interactions, she was something of an older sister figure to Lexa. They lived together, and half of Clarke and Lexa’s conversations were interrupted by Anya.

“Oooh, what’s that smile for?” Raven bumped her shoulder against Clarke’s as she passed her, moving into the front room and collapsing on the couch, “And where’s Monty?”

Clarke drifted further into the room and sat automatically next to Raven, pulling her sideways so she was lying on the cushions, “Just Lexa; Anya is annoying her,” she removed the brace from Raven’s leg and started gently pressing on the muscles there, “and Monty is working a late night shoot, might not be home till really late.”

Raven shot her a grateful smile for the massage, “Lexa? You been texting her a lot?”

Clarke rolled her eyes, well versed in recognizing when Raven was digging for details.

So what if she was talking to Lexa a lot; she needed to be comfortable with her new castmate.

Absolutely nothing to do with how pretty Lexa’s laugh was or how her jawline could cut glass or how her hands-

_ Stop. _

Clarke cleared her throat, “Just a bit, we start filming tomorrow.” Time to change the subject, “I heard they cast someone else on Mt Weather?”

Raven smirked, “Never seen a grown man so afraid of a little explosion before…”

Clarke relaxed into the couch to listen. Where Clarke was an actress, Raven and Monty worked behind the scenes as special effects technicians and camera operators respectively. Clarke had never seen someone with such a natural affinity for blowing things to smithereens as Raven.

Raven’s phone buzzed and she stopped mid-sentence to glance at it, only to grin as she read it. Clarke leaned over to look at the screen:

 

**WildsAnFree is broadcasting on Periscope!**

 

Raven laughed, “Anya is periscoping, want to watch this shitshow?”

Clarke had already shuffled closer when Raven opened the app. The screen was black for a few seconds before Anya’s face popped up on screen, grinning maniacally as her hair tangled around her face. The Pussycat Dolls was blasting in the background, and Anya had to raise her voice a little to address her audience, “Hey guys! So I know it’s gotta be shocking to see my beautiful, beautiful face out of my Viking make-up, but I was bored and Alexaaandria,” the phone camera panned back to show Lexa sprawled on the couch in sweatpants and a loose white shirt, scowling at the camera, “was too busy  _ texting someone _ to pay attention to me or the musical royalty you can hear in the background. So, questions?”

Raven snorted, “Please, I’ve worked on that show, Anya is just thirsty for validation.”

Clarke elbowed her, “Hi, hello, you’re talking to an actress right now. No one is thirstier for validation.”

Her phone buzzed and she grinned as she read the message,

 

**Lexa:** Please, please don’t tell me you’re watching Anya’s periscope.

 

**Clarke:** Fine, I won’t tell you.

 

Raven was shooting her a look out the corner of her eye, and when Clarke looked back to the periscope, Raven shook her head, “Clearly not just validation you’re thirsty for, eh Griff?”

Clarke turned to her, mouth open in indignation, “She’s my  _ co-worker _ , we have to bond.”

She opened the periscope app on her own phone - ignoring the muttered “unbelievable” from beside her - and clicked on Anya’s broadcast just on time to catch the tail end of her answering a question about stunt training. 

“Lexa’s been doing some stunt training of her own actually, for her new show, right Lex?”

Lexa looked up at the camera, “Yes, I mean I can’t say much right now because shooting only starts tomorrow so-”

A snapback hit her square in the face and fell into her lap, causing an explosion of laughter from both Anya and Raven, and the chat to blow up with comments.

Anya sniggered, “I guess you need to work on your dodging technique.”

Lexa huffed and rolled her eyes, but picked up the snapback and tugged it onto her head, pulling it down to cover her eyes. A small but discernable smile was present on her face though, and Clarke enjoyed the way her lips curved with it.

She also really enjoyed how the snapback looked on Lexa.

She opened the chat and typed out a quick message, fully expecting Anya to miss it among all the other messages flooding in. She spotted it immediately however, and a sly grin pulled across her face as she turned back to Lexa, “Hey Lex, theRealGriffC wants me to ‘stop tormenting’ you. Thoughts?”

Lexa’s face appeared from under the brim of the cap as she tilted her head up, “Thank you Clarke-”

“She also said you look really hot in that snapback-”

“She said nothing of the sort.”

Clarke studiously ignored Raven’s laughter as it shook her body next to her, and shot off a desperate text. Anya was still smirking as she read the responses in the chat, confirming Clarke was actually watching. The chat started moving almost too quickly to follow, with Clarke catching frequent glimpses of her name muddling in with “I love you”s and “Lexa”.

Anya turned to Lexa, “How do you know she didn’t say it?”

Lexa flashed her phone at her, brandishing it victoriously in the air, “Because she just texted me  _ ‘don’t listen to Anya, she sits on a throne of lies and cannot be trusted, the hat-’ _ .” Lexa cut off swiftly, not wanting to give Anya more ammo by the way of the words  _ “the hat suits you though” _ .

Anya seemed to pick up on the hesitation, but thankfully left it alone. Instead she shuffled closer to Lexa, leaning back against the couch that Lexa was almost lying down on. Lexa raised a skeptical eyebrow at the camera and Clarke felt her stomach flip pleasantly.

So maybe she had a crush.

Maybe.

Didn’t mean anyone else should find out about it though.

“Lexa, I think you should tell everyone about your new show.”

Lexa eyed Anya curiously before sitting up straighter on the couch, settling with her elbows planted on her knees. Raven rolled her eyes and stood up, muttering something about “leaving Clarke to eyefuck her co-star in peace” but Clarke wasn’t paying attention anymore. Not with Lexa sat like that and talking lowly into the camera.

“Grounded is a cross between a procedural crime drama and a sci-fi show…” She began describing the show in as much detail as possible. Her hands were flailing around in the air as she spoke and Clarke felt a smile creep slowly across her face. Lexa’s passion for acting was so  _ contagious _ , and it reminded her of how she used to feel when she sketched or painted.

“...my character is a lesbian, so that’s great and I’m really excited to bring some main character representation to an audience that needs it.”

_ Wait, what? _

Okay so  _ somehow _ , Clarke had managed to forget that Detective Jaime Cooper was a lesbian. She’s not certain how, but she thinks it has something to do with it only coming up a few times in pre-production and occasionally getting distracted by how green Lexa’s eyes were, and how they lit up when she talked about her character.

Her  _ lesbian _ character.

The idea of Lexa kissing women wasn’t an unpleasant one, in fact, Clarke would wager she’d be pretty exceptional at it. The only drawback she could see was that Clarke was playing Dr Emily Casey - a character scheduled to have some grand romance with Detective Cooper’s partner, Detective Jacob Powell.

Didn’t mean she couldn’t be bi though.

The periscope ended shortly after, with Lexa yelling at Anya to turn the music off, to which she responded, “It’s  _ you _ who downloaded it in the first place, you PCD fangirl.” This resulted in Lexa shooting a quick “bye” at the camera before lunging at the phone, and the screen went dark.

Clarke stretched and stood up from the couch. She walked down the hall, pausing outside of Raven’s room to warn her she’d be out on an early shoot the next day before pushing into her own room and going to bed.

* * *

 

Clarke flopped down on the chair next to Lexa’s, adjusting her lab coat as she did so. Lexa was sat comfortably with her left leg propped horizontally over her right knee. She spared a few moments to look the woman over, feeling she had the time considering Lexa was tapping at her phone. She was in costume - dark jeans and light grey shirt, the sleeves rolled up to her elbows and Clarke was beginning to think she had a forearm kink or something because _Jesus_ -

“Clarke?”

Clarke blinked and her eyes snapped back up to meet Lexa’s, “Sorry? I was…” She waved her hand vaguely, trying to dismiss Lexa’s questioning and also the tightening she felt in her stomach when she watched Lexa’s fingers tap against the wooden armrest. “Distracted.”

Lexa’s lips curled slightly in a smile, but she said nothing more. 

Clarke noticed that since their initial meeting, Lexa had become more confident in herself, especially when acting or on set. It wasn’t that she was a shrinking daisy when they first met, it just seemed that Lexa wasn’t sure how to act around her for a while. Now though? More of her personality was coming through, which only brought  _ bad ideas _ into Clarke’s head.

“I thought you weren’t shooting for a few minutes? It’s our first scene together, right?”

Lexa shrugged and tucked her hair back behind her ear - a relatively small,  _ cute _ ear Clarke noted.

_ I’m drawing the line at an ear kink Griffin, get it together _ .

“I wanted to get comfortable in costume, get a feel for the character, how she walks…” Lexa trailed off, noting Clarke’s raised eyebrow, “... I may also just like the clothes.” She trailed off sheepishly, grinning a little and ducking her head.

They fell into silence, and Clarke searched for something to say.

“You look great in them.”

_ Christ. _

Lexa looked up again and caught her gaze, green eyes boring into her, “Yeah? The costume lady… Karen? Karen. She said I had a choice between this or more of a suit and blazer look, but I figured if I’m going to be running around after cyborgs and supernatural creatures I should probably go for comfort.” She got a glint in her eye and leaned closer, “Also these jeans make my ass look great.”

Clarke thought she hid her sharp inhale well, at least Lexa didn’t seem to notice as she leaned back in her chair. Clarke unbuttoned her lab coat - they really were surprisingly warm and she didn’t want to be sweating  _ before  _ she continued her next scene under the hot film lights. The sudden flush she was experiencing was absolutely  _ not _ helping matters.

She watched the technicians move the lighting and cameras around, Miller quietly directing them as he saw fit. She heard Lexa make a displeased sound next to her and turned to catch the tail end of what must have been an impressive eye-roll.

Lexa muttered something and tapped angrily at her phone, glancing up and seeing Clarke’s inquisitive stare. She grimaced, “My PR manager, Titus, has some  _ interesting _ ideas about my public persona.”

_ Ah _

Clarke knew that struggle, at least, she did in the early stages of her career. That was before she’d hired her old friend Wells as her PR manager and fired the old, homophobic dude she had before.

Clarke didn’t say anything, but Lexa continued, lowering her voice and pulling a face, “ _ Relationships are a distraction, Miss Woods, I see no reason why you should come out and make a spectacle of yourself. _ ” She ran a frustrated hand over her face and slumped back in her chair.

Clarke ignored how her heart seemed to be trying to beat its way out of her chest -  _ she’s not straight _ \- and instead attempted to make a joke, “He’s probably jealous you have more game with the ladies than he does.”

It seemed to work and Lexa tilted her head, shot her a barely there smirk, “I mean, I  _ do  _ have game.” She swung sideways in her chair to prop her legs on Clarke’s chair and wink at her. Before Clarke could be too affected by the wink however, she nearly toppled sideways out of the chair and had to reach down with her arm on the floor to steady herself, “ _ Shit- _ Ignore that.”

Clarke was already laughing though, and patted Lexa’s leg in false sympathy, “ _ Obviously, _ I think your game ran out, ladykiller.”

Lexa pushed herself back up and Clarke was briefly entranced by how her biceps moved and tightened under the fitted shirt before she heard their names being called. Turning away from Lexa, who was straightening her shirt and pushing her hair back, she saw one of the PA’s - Harper - calling them to shoot. She stood and re-buttoned her lab coat, pausing to let the hair and makeup guy fix a strand of her hair. 

Lexa had stood up and was walking towards the set, striking up conversation with Miller. Clarke followed, finding her spot behind the desk and running through the lines in her head. She glanced at Lexa who had finished with Miller and was leaning against the door, sending her a muted but excited smile.

_ Been doing this for years Griffin, it’ll be fine. _

* * *

 

It  _ was _ fine.

Well, as first scenes go, it was pretty fucking great actually.

Acting with Lexa was as easy as Clarke could remember it ever being, it flowed and it was  _ fun _ . Lexa played Jaime with a fire behind her, firing off acerbic comments with a flair.

Miller could barely contain his excitement, calling an end to the day as Clarke muffled a yawn behind her hand. Lexa was chatting to the stunt man - Lincoln - near the crash mats, and she meandered over.

Lincoln had an easy smile and kind eyes, and he seemed to be friends with just about everyone. She’d never worked with him before, but Raven was familiar with him and so she’d met him a few times.

She reached the pair on time to find him laughing. Lexa had a wide grin on her face, but she’d clearly just challenged him to something. He spotted Clarke and turned to her, eager for another opinion, “Lexa thinks she could throw me if she wanted to, even with so little practice from today. Such an aggressive response to a question about her workout routine.”

Clarke raised an eyebrow and eyed the smile still planted firmly on Lexa’s face. Her line of sight drifted down from her face to her shoulders and tripped down her arms, moving to strong hands and long,  _ long _ fingers to drag over her stomach, now only clad in a tank-top. 

It was suddenly very warm on set.

There was a soft cough and her eyes shot back up to meet Lexa’s, which were now far too amused for Clarke’s liking.

She narrowed her eyes, “I don’t think she could. She’s all talk.”

Lexa’s jaw dropped in mock offense and Lincoln laughed loudly, startling some of the nearby technicians as they switched off their equipment. Lexa stepped forward, “Try me.” She walked to the mat and gestured towards Lincoln with a  _ ‘come at me’ _ gesture.

Clarke, meanwhile, took out her phone and hit record.

Lincoln rushed Lexa, lunging at her just as she side-stepped him and threw her hip into his side. He toppled off balance and she pulled him, using his momentum to send him flying over her shoulder and onto the crash mat. Lexa’s insufferable smug smile was back on her face as she pushed her hair out of her eyes and rolled her shoulders.

_ That absolutely should _ not _ be attractive… and yet. _

Lincoln stood up and hopped off the mat, jogging over to where Lexa was very clearly waiting for some kind of validation.

“You’re a quick study Woods, I’ll give you that.”

Lexa grinned and turned to Clarke, eyebrows raised and hands folded behind her back, “Clarke?”

She sighed, “If this is  _ ‘I told you so’ _ ”

“Oh it most definitely is.”

“Fine. Well done. We’re all in awe of your brute strength and biceps.”

Lexa’s smile turned cheeky as they said goodbye to Lincoln and turned to walk to their trailers, Clarke itching to take off the labcoat.

“I only wanted you to admit I could throw Lincoln, nothing about my biceps. It’s understandable though, my arms are terrific.”

Clarke rolled her eyes and shoved her sideways, “I preferred you when you were panicking in the passenger seat of my car.”

“No you didn’t”

She didn’t.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's been more than a week, I intended to get this out on Friday but Uni happened and my birthday happened so it fell by the wayside a little. 
> 
> I'm so happy the first chapter was received as well as it was? I haven't written in AGES so I was a bit concerned. Shoutout to Maddy for being the ADC and Elise ho we all deserve, and also for shouting at me to finish this chapter (oh and for sending me like 50,000 Dapper Lexa headcanons which powered my thirst and by extension, Clarke's thirst)
> 
> Quick note: Peripeteia basically means a sudden change in direction in a story, as my nerdy friend who will go unnamed has told me. It's often affiliated with tragedy (according to google) but I think this fandom has had enough of that.
> 
> Thanks for all the comments and kudos, it means the world (I may not reply to all of them but I read them all and make loud embarrassing noises as I do).


	3. Paternal Tweets (They think I'm their father)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clarke and Lexa have a photoshoot for their show, Clarke is flirty, Lexa is gay, and Lexa doesn't understand a kink. Like at all. Someone help her. The show also premieres.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My update schedule for this fic isn't set in stone, and due to being in my 2nd year of Uni I may be a little inconsistent. I'll try my hardest to update it at least once every 2 weeks though.

“Okay Lexa, now give me your best smoulder.”

_ Oh for fuck’s sake. _

She could hear Clarke’s poor attempt at smothering her laughter from behind the set. Lexa rolled her eyes to the ceiling. With the premiere airing soon it was time to do the official photoshoot for the show, and it was her first real photoshoot for something apart from her headshots.

“I’m sorry, a  _ smoulder? _ ” She spoke calmly, not seeing any sense in taking her irritation out of the photographer. He was only doing his job, after all. Unlike Clarke, who had broken out into giggles not seconds after she spoke.

_ She’s lucky she’s pretty. _

Clarke piped up from where she had sidled closer to the side of the set, “Yeah, you know, a  _ smoulder _ . A dark, sexy kind of look.”

“I… don’t think I can do that?” Lexa choked out at a smirking Clarke, “I can certainly  _ glare _ , if that’s similar.”

Clarke rolled her eyes, “You can definitely smoulder, I’ve seen you do it like a  _ million _ times on set. It’s the one where you kind of clench your jaw and narrow your eyes a little-”

“That’s my glare, Clarke.”

“Really? Oh, well it’s  _ hot _ . Do _ that _ .”

_ Aaaand I’m blushing again, of course, because I’m a preteen. _

She looked instead at the photographer, who was (patiently) waiting for them to finish talking. He was also kindly ignoring the red heat creeping up her neck, which she hoped was covered mostly by the make-up.

To tell the truth, she wasn’t having an  _ awful _ time at all. The clothes she was wearing were similar to the ones her character wore for most of the season, and so she didn’t feel overly exposed in skinny jeans, a shirt, a leather jacket and boots. Obviously, her hair was wavy and pulled over one shoulder, and her make-up much heavier than normal, but she was comfortable.

“Actually Lexa, could you just tuck in one side of the shirt there. We want a bit of a rugged, casual look.” She nodded and slipped the right side of her shirt under the hem of her jeans. “Perfect, it’ll contrast nicely with Clarke’s outfit when we put you together.”

_ He’s not wrong _ , Lexa mused. Clarke was in a green dress and a white blazer, her hair ruffled and eyes smokey. The blazer was being periodically swapped out for her - open - lab coat, and Lexa had to admit they looked excellent together.

And there was the other reason she was having a decent time at the photoshoot: Clarke Griffin.

Clarke had already done many photoshoots in the past, and she knew all the tricks to make them go by quicker. She had a pre-prepared playlist on her phone to play in the background, and seemed to have a never-ending list of conversational topics.

Though maybe that last one had less to do with the photoshoot and more to do with how easily Lexa and Clarke could talk for hours on end.

“Alright Lexa, now just turn more side-on to the camera - no, less than that, 45°? Perfect - turn your head just slightly more - great.”

She did her best attempt at a smoulder. She felt ridiculous, but after a few moments the embarrassment faded and she even threw in the hint of a smirk.

The photographer seemed pleased, and a couple of seconds later he was done with her. Lexa relaxed and walked to stand besides Clarke while they set up the next shot.

Her co-star was grinning widely when she stopped next to her, and Lexa let herself smile a little in return, “Shut up.”

Clarke laughed a little breathily, “I wasn’t saying anything!”

Lexa nudged her gently, “Just because you can do sex eyes easily does not mean it is a talent that extends to the rest of us.”

“Of all the things I expected Lexa Woods to say, the words  _ ‘sex eyes’  _ didn’t make the list. And I’m afraid I don’t know what you mean, did you mean this?”

Clarke dipped her head very slightly and sent a heated stare at Lexa through lowered eyelashes, biting her lower lip a little.

_ Fuck. _

Lexa swallowed hard, “Um- Yes that would- That’s the look.”

Clarke laughed loudly, “Oh I know, I just wanted to see how you’d react. Priceless.”

Lexa knew she must be blushing through the make-up by now, but Clarke didn’t mention it. She did, however, pull out her phone and open the camera app.

Lexa looked at her flatly, “No, Clarke, my phone froze for 10 minutes last time.”

Clarke pouted a little, “Oh come on Lex, do it for my followers, do it for my  _ people _ ,  _ our  _ people.”

Lexa eyed the pout of her lips and clenched her jaw.

_ I’m too gay for this. _

“Fine.”

Clarke grinned with a twinkle in her eye that let Lexa know she fully expected to win this contest. She tugged Lexa behind her and pulled Lexa’s arms around her, the black leather of her jacket contrasting with Clarke’s white labcoat.

She must have sensed Lexa’s confusion - at least she interpreted the way she stiffened and stopped breathing as confusion - because she turned her head to speak against her ear, “So your costume isn’t spoiled, obviously.”

Lexa rolled her eyes.

_ Obviously. _

“Okay snarky, try for a smile… or maybe a  _ smoulder _ .”

Clarke laughed at Lexa’s displeased grumble as she snapped the photo, but in the final photo Lexa was smiling widely. Clarke instantly went to tweet the picture, Lexa still pressed against her back.

 

**@theRealGriffC:** Photoshoot fun with @LexW00ds, you’re not ready for her smoulder! #HotStuff  pic.twitter.com/zDUPOJ2Ji3

 

Lexa had a pleased smile on her face as she read the tweet over Clarke’s shoulder, “Hot stuff?” She went to reply to the tweet on her own phone and so missed the displeased look that flashed over Clarke’s face as she pulled away.

 

**@LexW00ds:** @theRealGriffC enough about the smoulder already #ThanksDoc #NiceLabCoat

 

Clarke chuckled when she read her response, and nudged her with her shoulder, “Doc? Didn’t know you were into that kinda thing Lexa. Damn, tell a girl next time.”

_ I’m into all kinds of things, namely - you. _

Lexa readjusted her jacket across her shoulders and tried to be casual, “Lab coats are hot. And stop teasing me about the smoulder, the fans will trademark it or something.”

Clarke reached over to straighten the collar of the jacket, “I’ll stop teasing when you realise that you could yawn and about half a million girls would  _ swoon _ .”

_But would you_ _swoo-_ stop.

Mercifully, she was saved from total embarrassment by Miller emerging through the door to the studio and calling across to them.

“Ladies? We’re ready for you both.”

Clarke jumped back from where she’d absently been fiddling with the zipper on leather jacket. Lexa eyed her curiously but didn’t comment.

Miller was watching them with a strange look on his face. He moved to talk to the photographer while they walked back over to the set, squinting a little under the lights.

* * *

 

_ This is… odd. _

They had started with generic poses; back-to-back, side by side (Lexa with her gun out and Clarke with a scalpel), but it had quickly descended into something much more  _ bizarre. _

“Face each other...closer...closer-” Lexa narrowed her eyes; any closer and their chests would be touching. A quick glance at Clarke showed she was just as confused, though her face also showed a certain amount of amusement. “Clarke look into the camera, and Lexa put your hand on Clarke’s waist and look at her.”

Lexa did as she was told.

_ There are worse things to endure than looking at Clarke Griffin. _

“Perfect, now stay the same only-what?” The photographer turned to Miller and asked him to repeat what he just said. “Okay? Lexa you need to look at Clarke’s lips.”

“What?”

“Excuse me?”

They spoke in unison, both looking suspiciously at Miller, who smiled innocently and raised his hands, “Trust me on this one.”

Lexa had a sneaking suspicion that Clarke was laughing, considering she could feel her shaking slightly against her.

Still.

_ Definitely worse things to endure. _

They did as they were told again, Lexa letting her eyes drop to Clarke’s lips and feeling her mouth go a little dry at the sight.

“That’s good Lexa,  _ that’s _ a smoulder.”

She blinked, unaware she’d been doing anything but looking normally at Clarke.

_ Worrying. _

Miller clapped his hands excitedly, “Prom pose time!”

“ _ What?” _

_ “Excuse me?” _

* * *

 

Lexa was in Hell.

An unfortunate side effect of Clarke’s playlist was that she had quite a few beat-heavy R&B songs on there - meaning Clarke was taking the opportunity to move her hips to the music as she waited for the photographer to properly direct them. 

Direct them into their next prom pose. Which meant she was currently stood behind Clarke with her hands planted on Clarke’s waist.

Clarke did a full body roll against her -  _ fuck my entire life _ \- and Lexa hissed out a quick warning, “ _ Clarke, _ we need to stay still.”

Miller overheard, and quite cheerfully said, “In fact, great idea Clarke, feel free to dance. We want some fun pictures as well.”

_ Christ. _

The music seemed to increase in volume and Clarke looked gleefully over her shoulder, “Come  _ on _ Lex, loosen up a little.”

Clarke lifted her hands over her head - stopping briefly to tangle in her own hair - and Lexa idly wondered what she did in a past life to deserve this.

She remembered how she managed to briefly fluster Clarke on their first day of filming, and a voice in her head that sounded alarmingly like Anya’s encouraged her to try it again.

Lexa gripped Clarke’s waist a little tighter and pulled her closer, finally moving to the beat along with her. Clarke made a pleased little noise and shimmied her shoulders.

“ _ Swooning _ , I tell ya, you’ll have them  _ swooning _ .”

Maybe Lexa wasn’t hating Hell as much as she’d thought.

* * *

 

“ _ No,  _ Titus, I will not  _ compromise _ anything. It was a picture-”

“Not the only one. I don’t want any rumours that you’re  _ fraternizing _ with your co-star.”

_ If only. _

“It was just a picture, Titus, relax.”

“Did you have to drape yourself all over her? Have you even read the replies to your tweets?  _ Clexa  _ is being used with alarming frequency.”

Lexa sighed and rubbed her eyes. She  _ had _ read the replies, a majority of them were incoherent streams of capital letters.

“It was to make sure my outfit wasn’t spoiled before the photos were released,” it was a weak excuse, Lexa knew it, Clarke knew it, and Titus especially knew it. “And yes, I did read the replies, all I see are a lot of people very passionate about us before the show even airs. Surely that’s a good thing?”

“Actually, Ms Woods-”

She was done, “You know what Titus? Your official title is PR advisor, and we’re done talking about this. Thanks for the advice.”

She hung up and leaned back against the wall. She had just left the dressing room after the shoot when Titus rang. Suffice to say he was… displeased, about she and Clarke’s propensity for tweeting photos of themselves.

_ I really should get a new PR rep. _

She was pulled out of her thoughts when she spotted Miller walking down the corridor towards the exit.

“Miller? Could I have a minute?”

Miller smiled at her and nodded. 

She took a deep breath, “I’m gay-”

Miller squinted, “Great. Me too.”

She sighed, “What I was trying to say is that I know what it’s like to be…  _ teased _ with representation that is never going to be there. The prom poses, the subtle  _ scripted _ glances between Jaime and Emily, the main male love interest not even being  _ featured _ in the photoshoot. You know the fans will read into it. I need to know that you’re going to treat them well.”

Miller looked at her seriously now, “We’re still tweaking scripts for the second half of the season. I can  _ promise _ you that there is a plan, and it will be treated with complete respect and love.”

Lexa looked at him gratefully, “Thanks Nathan, it’s nothing personal, but-”

“No worries.” He started laughing, “Sorry, it’s just I’ve already had this conversation 10 minutes ago with Clarke. You two are really method about this partnership thing.”

Lexa smiled, the image of Clarke confronting her old friend flitting through her mind.

_ Who’s swooning now? _

* * *

 

Lexa sipped at her wine and glanced to the side.

She was at Clarke’s house, along with most of the cast and crew of Grounded, to watch the first episode live on TV. Raven and Monty were chatting up a storm with some of the other crew members, and Anya was not so subtly eyeing Raven up.

_ Incredible. _

She was nervous. She’d done the occasional guest star role on shows and quite a few commercials, but the guest star roles were just that - guest star roles - and the commercials?

She really didn’t feel like watching those.

Clarke nudged her from where she was folded up on the sofa next to her, “You okay?”

Lexa swirled her wine, “Honestly? I’m nervous.” There was a loud laugh from across the room, Anya had made her way over to Raven and Monty and was most likely telling an embarrassing story about her. 

Clarke looked over curiously before turning her attention back to Lexa, shuffling slightly closer on the couch, “You’re great, you wouldn’t be the lead if you weren’t.”

Lexa sent her a thankful smile in response to Clarke’s warm one, and downed the rest of her wine. Clarke followed suit and handed her glass to Lexa as she went to get refills. 

She wandered into the kitchen and moved to find the open bottle of red wine on the counter. She refilled the glasses but then leaned heavily against the counter and pulled out her phone. Her twitter was a mess of notifications - Clarke’s shout-out on the day they met had worked wonders for her follower count, and the photoshoot selfie hadn’t hurt - and she scrolled through for a while. She noticed there were an increased number of tweets from accounts with her face as the icon, not to mention the number of them with her and Clarke’s photoshoot pictures there.

_ Little bit surreal. _

The promo pictures were- well to say they were  _ well received _ would be an understatement. The day they were released was somewhat of a whirlwind. Even a week on, Lexa was surprised by the intensity of the response. 

 

**-One week earlier-**

 

Lexa was relaxing at Clarke’s apartment and playing a heated game of Mario Kart against Monty when the promo pictures were released.

She only knew it happened at all because her phone suddenly lit up with multiple notifications, many of a somewhat explicit nature, and Monty laughed for a solid five minutes at the look on her face. Clarke returned from the kitchen with snacks along with Raven, narrowing her eyes at a silent Lexa and cackling Monty.

“What did you do to her?”

Monty held up his hands in mock innocence, “ _ I  _ did absolutely nothing to her. Some of the lovely ladies on twitter would certainly like to, however.”

Clarke grinned, “Promo pictures? Miller said they’d be released soon.”

Lexa turned to her, ashen faced, “Why was I not warned?”

Raven had joined in the laughter - she had pulled out her phone to see what all the fuss was about and was gleefully sending screenshots of the most  _ imaginative _ tweets to who Lexa suspected was Anya.

Clarke sat down next to Lexa, “Warned? The photos are great, we look hot.”

“Clarke, many of these women appear to think I’m their father.” Monty and Raven burst out into hysterics once again, “I’m very much hoping they’re all just confused, but I have a suspicion it’s sexual.”

Lexa steeled herself and read one of the tweets aloud, “Yas - she appears to have both misspelled ‘yes’ and added an alarming number of ‘s’ on the end - daddy, I want you to-  _ oh my God _ .”

Raven was wheezing, and Monty had collapsed onto his side on the floor, taking deep breaths between bouts of laughter. While Clarke wanted to take pity on Lexa, she started laughing as well.

“I’m sorry Lex,” She spoke through her chuckles, “I warned you they’d be  _ swooning _ .”

“This is not what I had in mind, Clarke.” Lexa ignored Clarke’s bubbling laughter, “How are you taking this so well?”

“I mean,” Clarke scrolled through her own mentions and bit her lip in an attempt to suppress her laughter, “I don’t seem to be getting quite as many  _ paternal _ tweets? Sorry Lex, must just be something about you.”

Raven collected herself long enough to butt in, “Yeah Griff, something about Lexa just screams ‘daddy’ doesn’t it?”

This time all three of them burst into laughter, and Lexa resolved to not check her social media for the rest of the day.

 

**-’Present Day’-**

 

Her twitter had calmed down somewhat since, but she had also come to accept the graphic tweets as flattering.

Kind of.

She was still nervous.

She thumbed through her contacts to find C and rang a familiar number, waiting anxiously for an answer.

“Hey Lexie.”

Lexa rolled her eyes but she smiled, “Don’t call me that, Cos.”

“Sure, sorry Lexie.” There was silence, and then a loud bark of laughter rang across the line, “You excited? I bet you’re not, I bet you’re stressing out right now.”

Costia knew her so well. It was to be expected, considering they had dated for 2 years in their teens until Lexa’s constant moving for work and Costia’s need for schedules and consistency drove them apart. They still spoke frequently though, even meeting up for lunch on occasion.

“Maybe freaking out a little bit.” Lexa tried to make her tone light, but the way her voice trembled slightly gave her away.

Costia hummed a little and paused. Lexa busied herself with cleaning (see: moving things around) Clarke’s kitchen, steadily ignoring the shake to her fingers.

“Have you considered talking to Clarke about this? She  _ is _ your co-star…”

“I  _ have _ -”

“And?”

Lexa stopped her pacing, “She told me I’m great and deserved to be on the show.”

“Pretty  _ and _ smart.”

There was a certain knowing lilt to Costia’s tone, and Lexa responded with warning in hers, “ _ Costia- _ ”

Costia chuckled, “What? You barely shut up about her at lunch the other week, and you literally smile _every time_ she’s mentioned.”

“What are- I  _ do not _ do that.”

“You’re smiling right now.”

Lexa realised her cheeks were in fact pulling up into a smile, and she schooled them back to neutrality as Costia laughed down the line.

_ Damn it. _

“I hate you.”

“You love me, now stop being anti-social and hiding from everyone; go flirt with Clarke, I’ve seen the promo pictures, I know you can do it.”

“Hey-”

“Toodles.”

The line went flat and Lexa stared at the phone in her hand for a second.

She blinked.

_ Well then. _

She picked up the now filled wine glasses and left the kitchen, the drink no longer shaking in her hands as she slid past her colleagues. She returned to the couch, only to find Monty - Clarke’s housemate who she was only a little familiar with - grinning at Clarke, who was flushed a deep red.

Monty turned his smile on Lexa, “Hey, sorry I stole your seat, Clarke has an open space on her-”

“Is that my drink? Thanks Lex.” Clarke took a deep swig of her wine and stared down Monty, “I’m sure Mont would  _ love _ to scooch over a little bit.”

Monty rolled his eyes good-naturedly but shuffled over obligingly. Lexa settled in between them and checked her watch.

_ Ten minutes till it airs. _

Clarke noticed her fidgeting, “Hey, it’s going to be  _ amazing _ . I promise you that.” She rested a hand on Lexa’s thigh, “You deserve this, people will  _ love _ it.”

Lexa felt like her entire body was buzzing from Clarke’s touch, and she took a deep breath and smiled at Clarke.

Monty coughed a little awkwardly, “Um, not to interrupt… whatever that was,” Lexa blushed a deep red but Clarke was unphased, her hand not budging, “But do you think you could introduce me to Nathan? I - uh - really admire his work.”

Clarke grinned wickedly, “His  _ work _ huh? I’ll seen what I can do, for such a talented young cameraman. Wouldn’t want to see such talent going to waste, would we?”

Monty reached over Lexa and snagged Clarke’s drink, ignoring her protests, “Shut up Griffin.”

Time passed quickly, and soon the lights were dimmed in Clarke’s somewhat cramped living room and everyone was focused on the TV.

Despite her initial nerves, Lexa soon calmed down once she saw the first few minutes.

She smiled proudly in response to everyone’s cheers as Jaime threw a creature over her shoulder and into a car. 

Clarke leaned over and whispered into her ear, “I still have that footage of you training on our first day. Guess what’s showing up on twitter later.”

Lexa rolled her eyes in response but said nothing, and instead of moving back over on the couch, Clarke just let her head rest on Lexa’s shoulder.

Lexa focused aggressively on the TV, and noticed the set-up of Emily standing behind her desk.

Clarke apparently noticed also, “Our first scene together.”

 

_ ‘So you’re the one who trampled all over my crime scene.’ _

_ Emily glared at the detective from behind her desk. _

_ Jaime scoffed, ‘You’re the one who favors the crime scene over catching the thing that did this.’ _

_ ‘ _ Killing  _ them hardly constitutes successfully catching them, Detective… And thing? What do you mean, thing?’ _

_ A sigh, ‘Justice was served, didn’t really need it alive. You really are new to town, aren’t you doc? Yes,  _ thing _ , at least I don’t recall catching any human perp before with four arms, claws and a mouth full of fangs.’ _

_ A pause, ‘...I’m sorry, you killed it by yourself?’ _

_ Jaime removed her leather jacket and the camera caught the way Emily’s eyes scanned her body before returning to her face, ‘Yes, by myself.’ Jaime flexed her arm, ‘Think bionic woman, only  _ way _ cooler.’ _

 

The scene ended after another minute or so and the show went to commercial break. While her head didn’t leave Lexa’s shoulder, Clarke’s hand left Lexa’s thigh to grab her phone and open the camera.

_ Of course, because people aren’t going to go wild enough tonight as it is. _

Clarke smiled for the camera but never lifted her head from where she rested on Lexa, and Lexa’s wide grin was genuine.

 

**@theRealGriffC:** What do you guys think about @GroundedTheShow? Myself and @LexW00ds are loving it! #DetectiveSmoulderThough #Seriously  pic.twitter.com/gHIELJ0Qo4

 

Lexa retweeted it and then settled in to watch the rest of the show, warmth rising in her chest as Clarke pushed a little closer to her.

Titus could advise her all he wanted.

She’d  _ fraternize _ with her co-star all she liked.

  
  
  
  
  
  



	4. Bi the Way (The Big Bi Surprise)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lexa is cold and flirty. Clarke is cold and flirty. Everyone notices. They meet some enthusiastic fans, read the script for the season finale (with some of Miller's Big Plans), and Lexa learns some Important information about Clarke.

It was a late night on set, and the crew were bundled up in their thick coats with hot drinks. Usually Lexa enjoyed filming on location, but the fact that it was dark and cold and she was only wearing her usual jeans and jacket somewhat dimmed her enthusiasm.

“Scene 21, B, Take 1. Action!”

She sprung out from behind the car and sprinted across the road. Counting silently in her head, she timed her jump and slid across the car that was parked in her way. She landed gracefully in her boots - she’d had a lot of practice - and went to take out her prop gun, tucked in the waistband of her jeans

It was fairly secure in there however, and so her cold, numb hands slipped over the gun. She gave it a good tug and it flew out, soaring through the air towards the cameraman. She flailed uselessly for a second before looking defeatedly at Miller. He chuckled and the director shouted for a cut.

“You could barely get that thing out, Lex! Pants too tight?” Clarke shouted from where she was cuddled in her chair on the edge of the set, her coat and Lexa’s coat folded tightly around her. All Lexa could see of her face was her blue eyes glinting and the shock of blonde hair spilling out the top.

“You’d know, Clarke. Been looking at my ass?”

“When am I not? They’re practically painted on.”

Lexa grinned at her, making her way back over to her place behind the car after picking up her gun.

They were starting filming on the second block of episodes before they stopped for a few weeks of press. As a result, they’d started working longer shoots, and longer shoots often resulted in late shoots.

Lexa was delighted to find out that tired Clarke is a flirty Clarke.

_ Though recently she’s been doing it regardless of how tired she is. _

At least, she thinks what it was, if the constant winks and compliments meant flirty Clarke.

She hoped it did.

“Scene 21, B, Take 2. Action!”

It took her another few takes before Miller was satisfied, but finally he conceded and let her go and warm up. She shot him a grateful look and walked with a slight limp - she’d hit the car awkwardly on one take - over to Clarke, who was holding out her coat.

“I warmed it up for you.”

Lexa narrowed her eyes, “I’m sure that’s what you were doing,” she waved the coat away, “I’ve got to go again in a few minutes, keep it, I doubt that dress gives you much insulation.”

Clarke snorted, “Notice that? I’d tease you about it but I can’t feel most of my body at this point…” She paused, her eyes sparking, “Warm it up for me?”

Lexa rolled her eyes, used to these comments after having known Clarke for over 6 months. 

She felt the tips of her ears heat up though, and ignored Clarke’s smirk, “I’d love to, but I can’t feel my hands.” She reached over and stole her coffee cup, “I’ll take your drink though.”

She shot Clarke a cheeky wink in response to her offended scoff. She took a sip and almost immediately spat it back out, “What the fuck is that?”

Clarke looked back innocently, “My coffee. You know, the one you stole.”

“Is it supposed to be pure caramel or was that a horrible error made at craft services?”

“Oh, so now the thief is insulting my coffee choice.”

Lexa handed the drink back with a grimace, deciding to just go without coffee, regardless of the fact that it was 2:10 in the morning and she couldn’t feel her fingers. Clarke had other ideas however, and frowned at her before getting up in both coats and shuffling over to the nearby craft services tent.

“Clarke I was kidding, you don’t have to-”

“Lexa you’re frozen and I’ve stolen your coat, it’s fine.”

Lexa sighed and leaned back in her chair. She  _ was _ cold.

She checked the time and found they probably wouldn’t be shooting for another ten minutes at least. Pulling out her phone to check twitter, she noticed a lot of mentions from a group of fans saying they were at the barrier to set. She shot a text to Clarke as she jogged past various cameras and set pieces.

“Lexa!”

She smiled at the group of five, “It’s cold you guys, this is some dedication.” She started signing the posters regardless. She absently noticed one girl with her phone held up and filming, and tried to remember to not make a total fool of herself on camera.

“Which episode are you shooting?” The girl managed to sound calm, but her face was excited and flushed.

“Eleven, only five more to go, but we’re taking a bit of a break after this one.” There was a whispered  _ ‘she’s so hot’ _ between the two girls at the back and Lexa was so startled she immediately looked at them both.

_ Way to go Lexa, make them uncomfortable. _

“Thank you, though really, have you  _ seen  _ my co-star?” She grinned at them and they laughed, pushing forward for a picture.

“My ears are burning.” Clarke appeared at her side and handed her a cup of coffee, “Here’s your sugarless, creamless, demon coffee.”

Lexa took it gratefully, “At least you can  _ feel  _ your ears, I’m not certain mine are still attached.”

Clarke sent a blinding smile at the girls who stood stunned next to them, “You were the one who insisted I keep the coat.” She brushed Lexa’s hair aside and peered at her theatrically, “Yep, ears still attached, still tiny.”

“I resent that.”

“You resent everything, you’re so grumpy.” Clarke wrapped the coats around herself more and grinned at Lexa, “Going to introduce me to your friends? Your text wasn’t exactly enlightening.”

Lexa took a big gulp of her still boiling hot coffee, welcoming the burn for once, “Sorry, this is Sarah, Alex, Tris, Danny and… Liz? Liz.”

Clarke greeted them all in turn with blinding smiles and big hugs, which they all pulled away from with shell-shocked expressions on their faces.

_ I know the feeling. _

Lexa was dragged into another round of enthusiastic selfies; the enthusiasm coming mainly from Clarke, to no-one’s surprise. With Clarke’s arrival the questions remained about the show, but changed slightly.

“So, I know you can’t spoil anything-”

“Uh oh” Lexa smirked and Clarke elbowed her - “Behave” - Lexa bit her lips, sufficiently told off, and smiled at Tris, “Sorry, carry on.”

Tris laughed, “So no spoilers, but seriously, when are Emily and Jaime gonna bang?”

Lexa’s jaw dropped and Clarke laughed loudly.

And kept laughing, and laughing, and laughing.

The rest of the girls were giggling along, apart from Tris who was smiling a little but waiting patiently for an answer.

Clarke wiped her eyes carefully, “Oh my God I love you, I’ll be in trouble if I ruined my eye makeup though.” She sent Tris a playful glare, “What about Emily and the lovely Jacob? He’s so pretty.”

Tris waved her hand dismissively, “They won’t last. Jaime and Emily, however…”

Clarke laughed again and nudged Lexa, “Go on then Jaime, when are you gonna make your move?”

Lexa huffed out a low chuckle and shook her head, “Emily wouldn’t be able to handle me.”

Clarke bit her lip and leaned a little closer, her coats brushing against Lexa’s front, “Try me.”

Lexa didn’t know what Clarke was playing at but she wasn’t about to back down, especially with Clarke staring her down with challenge in her eyes.

“She did the smoulder!”

Lexa blinked, not realising she’d inadvertently leaned in.

Clarke stepped away from where she’d been pressed against Lexa, “Yeah, she does that a lot. Hot right?”

Lexa’s cheeks were burning, not used to having this kind of conversation in front of others. 

_ Or in front of a fucking camera,  this video is going straight to twitter. _

Clarke didn’t seem phased though, going back to happily talking to the girls. She checked her watch and realised she’d been needed back on set soon. She grimaced and looked up at them apologetically, “Sorry guys, we’ve gotta go film the next scene and I don’t want to keep the crew waiting.”

Clarke began shrugging off her coats and handed them both to Lexa, “I’ll be right over, tell Miller I’m on my way.”

Lexa looked down at the coats and looked back up with a raised brow, “Yes, walking talking coat hanger at your service.”

Clarke rolled her eyes, “They’re heavy, I’ve been wearing them all this time. Plus, you’re stronger than I am.”

She smiled at Lexa sweetly, and Lexa briefly mourned the loss of her independence and free will before saying goodbye to the girls again. 

_ Sucker for a pretty girl with a pretty smile,  _ she mused, and wondered exactly how Clarke managed to look so good in what was - objectively - a relatively plain looking dress.

As she walked away, she thought she heard Clarke say “Jemily” and shook her head in disbelief.

She couldn’t wait for this to get to twitter.

* * *

 

She didn’t have to wait long.

They’d only just finished shooting that night and Clarke was shivering in her hoodie on the way off set. Almost simultaneously their phones pinged multiple times.

Clarke looked over at her with a sheepish grin on her face, “Wanna bet there’s a bunch of new pictures of us on twitter right now?”

Lexa smiled tiredly, her hip still a little sore, and dug around in her pockets while Clarke checked twitter. After the incident with her old car, she decided to invest in some driving lessons and get herself a new mode of transportation.

Her motorbike was, well, sexy as hell, and Lexa appreciated its proficiency at weaving in and out of dense LA traffic.

She pulled on her thick riding jacket as they arrived at her bike, parked next to Clarke’s car.

“Well, shit.”

Lexa turned to Clarke and narrowed her eyes, “What did you do?”

Clarke frowned, “Hey, why are you assuming it’s  _ me _ who did something?”

Lexa just stared at her.

Clarke rolled her eyes a little, “Okay point taken. But the pictures are nice and the girls said only great things about us. In fact it’s  _ your _ behaviour in the video that most people are occupied with.”

Lexa pulled out her own phone and found her mentions, reading through a couple, “Clarke it seems normal, I mean sure some are a little enthusiastic but- oh.”

“Yeah.”

“I- you were cold.”

“I know.”

“It was polite. And I was filming and you weren’t and I didn’t want you to be freezing.”

“Lexa,” Clarke pressed a hand to her arm soothingly, “It was sweet. Maybe the stuff they saw could have been interpreted romantically, what with the jokey flirting-”

_ Joking. Obviously. _

“-and you giving me your coat and me getting you a coffee, but it’s no big deal. We’re friends.”

Lexa was fairly certain the heated looks Clarke had been sending her were not indicative of  _ friendship, _ and from the way Clarke was eyeing her carefully for a reaction, deduced she was probably digging for information about Lexa’s feelings.

_ That information isn’t going to be released any time soon if I can help it. _

Instead, Lexa read some more of the tweets, “‘ _ Lexa is  _ such  _ a gentlewoman she’s so amazing’ _ that’s entirely accurate.”

Clarke scoffed next to her.

“ _ ‘Did you see the way Clarke swooned-” _

“Oh please.”

“- _ when Lexa looked into her eyes?’  _ Also entirely accurate. You can’t help it, I have this effect on women.”

“Which is why you’re still single.” Clarke said around her smirk, laughing when Lexa put her hand to her chest in mock offense.

Clarke sighed, “It’s 3am, we should probably go so we don’t get stabbed out here.”

Lexa put on her helmet but shook her head, “I could fight them.”

Clarke unlocked her car and slid inside, rolling down the window to continue the conversation, “Yeah, the way you went tumbling over that car bonnet tonight really fills me with confidence. I appreciate the thought though.”

Lexa revved her bike, “Didn’t you hear? I’m a  _ gentlewoman _ Clarke, it comes naturally.”

Clarke didn’t respond past an aggressive eye roll and drove off, leaving Lexa sitting on her idling bike.

* * *

 

A few days later, Lexa groaned and kicked her covers as she rolled over in her bed and searched for her phone. It was ringing and last night’s shoot had lasted well into 4am, to a time that even the seemingly perpetually cheerful Clarke became subdued.

She grabbed her phone from her bedside cabinet and blindly stabbed at the screen, only to be rewarded by a cry of what she  _ thought _ was her name down the phone.

“Clarke? What the fuck? It’s like… early.”

Clarke huffed, and Lexa had no idea why she wasn’t sleeping. Instead of doing that, Clarke started speaking again, “Lex have you even  _ read _ the script for the season finale? I  _ swear _ I will fight that man-”

Lexa had a feeling growing in her stomach, not like the one she usually gets when talking to Clarke, but more like she was about to find out something she wasn’t going to like. She kept an ear on Clarke’s ramblings as she stumbled to her laptop and pulled up her email.

She hadn’t read the scripts for the penultimate episode and season finale yet, as they were only sent a few days before and she had been busy with stunt training. She ignored her growing sense of unease - “Lexa are you even listening to me?” “Yes, Clarke” - and pulled up the finale script.

She scrolled, eyebrows raising as she read about the gang-war storyline coming to a head, with her and Clarke’s characters being caught in the middle of it. She read the part where Emily rushed into an unsecured crime scene to preserve the evidence.

She read the part where Jaime jumped in front of Emily to catch the bullet with her body instead of letting her friend die.

Read the part where Emily kissed Jaime as she lay on the ground.

She felt a little numb.

“Lexa, I’ll get this sorted out. Everyone loves you, your fans would riot,  _ I  _ would riot. I’ll talk to Miller, I don’t care how long we’ve known each other he’s not getting away with this.”

Lexa frowned and came back to herself a little, shaking off the shock, “I’ll email Miller myself, it’s odd that I wasn’t warned I’d be jobless soon.”

“If you’re jobless consider me jobless because they’re not doing this bullshit-”

Lexa couldn’t suppress her smile, “Always looking out for me, aren’t you?”

Clarke hummed in a distracted fashion, and Lexa could hear the faint sounds of typing in the background, “Always Lex, you’re my girl.”

Lexa swallowed and felt bizarrely like she was about to cry, despite the pleased blush that spread up across her face. She was infinitely glad Clarke couldn’t see her face right now; under no circumstances could she  _ ever _ find out about this  _ very minor _ infatuation. At least until she knew Clarke felt the same.

Lexa refocused on the email she was sending to Miller and tried to ensure she didn’t sound too panicked in it. If she was being written off, there wasn’t much she could do about it personally. 

Clarke on the other hand… Well, she was Clarke Griffin. 

“- this conversation on the day of the photoshoot and he  _ promised  _ me Lexa he  _ promised _ me he wouldn’t screw this up. I get him together with Monty and this is how he repays me? I will  _ fight- _ ”

“Clarke, please, it’s okay.”

Clarke huffed angrily down the line, “It really isn’t, Lex. He’d better keep you alive because you deserve better than this, so do the thousands of girls who look up to your character.”

Lexa sent her email and settled back in bed, “On the plus side, Jemily will be a thing, and we can finally stop pretending we know  _ nothing _ about it. It’s exhausting.”

She heard Clarke send her email with a victorious slam of a button, and the rustling of sheets told her Clarke was curled up in her own bed.

“I just hope Miller is clever enough to know that a doctor like Emily wouldn’t let her favourite person die from a punctured lung. He remembered that Jaime would be wearing a bulletproof vest, I’m hoping he just wanted more  _ drama  _ to the situation.”

“Mhmmm.” Lexa was drifting off to sleep again. Clarke’s voice was low and soothing in her ear, and she felt herself relax further into her sheets. Clarke’s accent was stronger when she was sleepy, and the curl of the words made her smile softly.

“Sorry for ranting, I’ll let you sleep.”

“S’fine, Clarke.” Lexa murmured.

“I just want good bi rep on TV, you know? Bi kids shouldn’t have to go through what I did when I was younger.”

Lexa was suddenly wide awake.

“Anyway, g’night Lex.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the POV isn't set as Lexa's, nor is there a solid plan for swapping it every chapter, but Clarke's POV will be coming up again soon.  
> I'm going on holiday (without internet access) for a week on Monday, and so while I might be able to churn out Chapter 5 (it's a fun one you guys) I might not. If not, it won't be out until the following Monday most likely.  
> Again, I'm a Uni student with a lot of studying and obnoxiously long lab reports to write, and so while I truly aim to do a chapter a week, it may be extended to a chapter every 2 weeks if I'm especially busy.  
> If you're curious about the fic, want to talk headcanons or just ask me why the heck I'm taking so long with the next chapter, talk to me on my tumblr (ask, messaging, fanmail etc) - hoodieheda


	5. Raven Reyes (Pep-Talk Extraordinaire)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clarke and Lexa are so gross everyone thinks they're dating. Lexa gets word of a new job opportunity, Miller finally explains himself, Raven and Anya give some sound advice and Clexa attend a panel for the show.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember when I said "I might not get a chapter 5 out before I go on holiday"?  
> Iconic. I remember that too. I may have underestimated my ability to write over 4500 words in like 2 days, so I hope you enjoy whatever this is.  
> Next chapter SHOULD be out on Sunday, the day I get back from holiday, but it might be Monday.  
> Thank you for all the lovely comments and support, it's awesome.  
> Feel free to come talk to me on tumblr - hoodieheda (cute new URL right? I like it)

Two days after they read the finale script, and a day into their two week break for press, Miller called them both in for a meeting.

Lexa was leaning against her bike in the parking lot. She was waiting for Clarke to arrive so they could go in together. Her phone rang and she saw Indra’s caller ID on her screen.

“Indra? Is this about the movie?”

Lexa had been offered the opportunity to audition for the role in a new action movie as the female lead, and Indra had urged her to take them up on the offer. Lexa was concerned the filming would clash with shooting Grounded - if she was returning for next season as she thought - but Clarke assured her that the hiatus from shooting the show would give Lexa the 3 months necessary to do another project.

“You’re officially the female lead of Containment, only received word a few minutes ago.”

Lexa couldn’t control her grin. This movie had a big director - Dante Wallace - and was set to become a blockbuster, not to mention the fact that they’d seen her work on Grounded and asked for her  _ personally. _

“Do we know who the male lead is? I couldn’t stand most of them.”

Indra chuckled, “I think they could tell. It’s Roan Azgeda, you seemed to get along well enough.”

Lexa sighed in relief. Roan was initially quite intimidating, big and broad with calculating eyes, but she quickly found him to be very funny. He also made her feel safe in the role, which considering they’d only just met and they were supposed to be the main romance in the movie, said a lot for his character.

She chatted with Indra for a while longer and only hung up when she saw Clarke pull up. Lexa told her the news as calmly as possible, but became confused when Clarke stopped dead in her tracks.

“Wait, Containment?”

“Uh, yes?”

“I got a call from a director a few weeks ago asking me if I’d audition for a role in a new action movie, he said he had already cast the lead female role and thought we’d fit well together.”

“You’re kidding.” Lexa stared at her blankly for a moment before smiling.

“Nope,” Clarke popped the p and winked, “Guess you’re stuck with me for a little longer.”

Lexa could think of worse things to be subject to.

* * *

 

“Ladies, take a seat.”

“Miller you’d better explain.” Clarke folded her arms across her chest and glared down Miller. Lexa smirked and sat down before dragging Clarke down onto the couch next to her. 

Clarke grumbled but made herself more comfortable and shuffling sideways onto Lexa’s lap.

Lexa sighed,  _ if she doesn’t have feelings for me I’m a doomed woman. _

The position earned a raised eyebrow from Miller but nothing else. Lexa started drawing shapes on Clarke’s waist as she settled back into her.

“I apologise I didn’t explain the finale sooner, I had assumed you read the scripts when you received them and understood where we were going with it.” He clasped his hands, “First of all, Lexa, you’re not being written off.”

“You could have  _ said _ that in the script email, Nathan.” Clarke leaned forward again and Lexa rolled her eyes and pulled her back, keeping her arms around her stomach despite getting a faceful of soft, blonde hair.

Miller raised his hands, “Again, I’m sorry, I’d promised this storyline would be treated with care and didn’t think you’d be confused.” He took a breath, “So, obviously, Emily and Jaime are going to become romantically involved next season, I’d assume you don’t have any issue with that.”

He sent a significant look at their position, and Lexa stilled her hand where it had been absently scratching the back of Clarke’s neck. Clarke released a displeased noise at the loss of contact but nodded at him.

Lexa cleared her throat, “Of course I don’t, I’m very excited about this storyline. As long as Clarke is okay with it?”

Clarke looked at her like she was being immensely stupid, “Lex, of  _ course _ I’m okay with it.”

Miller grinned at them, “I assumed you’d be happy, considering… you know.” He gestured vaguely at them both, and Lexa frowned.

_ Is he implying what I think he’s implying? _

Clarke was also confused, it seemed, “What? We’re both… not straight?”

Miller coughed awkwardly.

_ Christ. _

“We’re close friends, Miller, that’s all.” Lexa assured him over Clarke’s shoulder, and he looked at her like he didn’t quite believe her but let it go. Clarke had started tracing her fingers up and down the tendons in Lexa’s forearm, tickling the skin and giving her goosebumps.

_ That probably doesn’t help our case. _

“Right, of course. I know we have a panel coming up this week, and it’s sold out. Try to keep the hints about this subtle.” He eyed how Clarke was stroking Lexa’s arm, “Maybe sit on separate seats as well. We don’t need to kill the entire fanbase.”

* * *

 

“Lexa, for the love of  _ fuck _ calm down.”

Lexa paused in her pacing, “Is that an actual phrase? I don’t think it is.”

Anya rolled her eyes and smacked her friend with a couch cushion, “I just used it, so yes, it is. And you’re missing the point;  _ calm down. _ ”

Lexa ran her fingers through her hair again, tugging at snags until the pain in her scalp became too much, “ _ How _ , Anya? There’s going to be hundreds of people in there, asking me questions and-”

“-completely adoring you? How terrible.” Anya stuck her tongue out in response to Lexa’s irritated growl.

“This is my first panel ever, and Clarke has done like, a billion of them and she basically charmed the pants off everyone in the room when she did.” Lexa dragged her hand down her face, “It’s going to be a disaster. They like my character, not me. I’m not smooth or- or suave or…”

“You’re not as  _ daddy? _ ” Anya supplied helpfully, snickering.

_ Will I ever escape that? _

Lexa shot her a dark look, “Say that again and you’re dead to me. I still get daily jokes from Raven and I don’t even  _ live _ with her.”

Anya held her hands up in surrender, “My bad. Listen, I’ve done these things before, and they’re not as bad as you’re imagining. Depending on who you’re on a panel with and the audience, they can actually be pretty fun.”

Lexa looked at her with defeat in her eyes still, so she tried again.

“Look, when you  _ stalked  _ every panel Clarke was ever involved in on youtube-”

“It was research Anya.”

Anya raised an eyebrow, “Sure, say that to the repeat viewings and the way you got all hot and bothered whenever she laughed in that tight dress.”

“She has a pretty laugh.” Lexa defended weakly.

Anya snorted, “Uh huh, her chest is pretty as well isn’t-”

“You’ve been looking at her chest?”

Anya shot her an exasperated stare, “Missing the point, Lex.  _ Anyway, _ did Clarke act any differently from the way she acts basically every day on set? Or on the days you go to her flat and hang out  _ totally platonically? _ ”

Lexa narrowed her eyes at her tone but elected to ignore it.

_ For now, anyway. _

She sighed, “No, she doesn’t. I mean she swears less on the panels but that’s about it. But-”

“ _ Oh my God” _

“-Clarke is naturally likeable, she’s amazing. She just has to be herself and people love her.” Lexa finished, looking back down to meet a tired Anya.

“Ignoring your rampant boner for Clarke, like seriously dude tuck it away for once maybe-”

Lexa made a disgusted noise.

“-I have a newsflash for you.  _ You’re naturally likeable.  _ You’re funny, and sarcastic, and humble, and very sweet… God I can’t believe you made me say that.”

“Aww Ahn.”

“I hate you.” Anya folded her arms across her chest, her face set into a scowl, and settled back into the couch.

* * *

 

“Clarke, chill the fuck out.”

Clarke stopped pacing and sent Raven a glare, “How about I  _ don’t  _ do that?”

Raven rolled her eyes,”You’re being so dramatic,” she raised her voice in the direction of the kitchen, “Mont, tell Clarke she’s being dramatic.”

Clarke huffed as Monty emerged from the kitchen, his mouth half stuffed with a sandwich, “Uh, Clarke you’re being dramatic.”

_ Traitor. _

“Traitor.”

Raven looked at her like she’d just proved her point.

_ Dammit. _

Clarke let out a long sigh and slumped on the sofa next to Raven, “Last time I interacted with Lexa in public, it was for all of five minutes and it spawned an entire ship on twitter. The panel lasts for like, an hour…”

Raven started nodding gravely, “I get it, I mean you’re a great actress but you’ll suck at hiding how much you want Lexa to bend you over that desk-”

“ _ Raven.” _

“Sorry, my bad, how much  _ you _ want to bend  _ Lexa  _ over that desk. That girl ain’t a top.”

Clarke looked to Monty helplessly, only to find him smirking into his sandwich.

“Monty, some help here?”

He swallowed the food in his mouth and shrugged, “I mean I don’t think she’s a top either but-”

“ _ I hate you both so much.” _

Raven cackled and held her hand out to Monty for a proud high-five.

“Okay, sorry Griff, you’re too easy. Anyway, I was talking to Anya-”

Clarke smiled knowingly, “You’ve been talking to  _ Anya _ a lot.”

Raven rolled her eyes, “Yes. So I was talking to Anya and she said Lexa has been freaking out over her first panel, so if anything she’ll be too nervous to flirt.”

Clarke frowned, a small pout forming on her face.

_ She’s nervous? She should have told me. _

Raven laughed, “Wow Clarke, catching feelings?”

Clarke remained silent, a steady blush creeping up her collarbone and up her neck.

Raven immediately stopped laughing, “Oh my God.”

“Okay, now who’s being dramatic.” Clarke refused to meet her eyes and stared determinedly at the wall opposite.

“ _ Oh my God, _ you’re really into her aren’t you?” Raven prodded her shoulder roughly and repeatedly, leaving Clarke rubbing it with a grimace.

“Don’t touch the goods, Reyes. I don’t see what the deal is, you were talking about how much I wanted to bend her over a desk earlier.”

“Your shoulder doesn’t count as  _ the goods, _ Clarke. I’ve touched more than that and I’m entirely offended you don’t remember-”

“We agreed we’d never mention that night ever again.”

Raven shrugged with her tongue between her teeth, “I lied. Anyway, wanting to fuck Lexa is  _ completely _ different than wanting to, like, take her on dates and, and cuddle… Monty tell her it’s different.”

_ What if I want to do both? God, I’m actually into her. _

Monty looked tired of being the middleman, but responded regardless, “It’s different.” Raven let out a shout of victory. “But I don’t think it’s a bad difference. You haven’t dated since Niylah, and that could hardly be called dating.”

Clarke’s brow scrunched, “Hey, we went on dates!”

Raven snickered, “Yeah, dates that ended within 30 minutes in favour of sex.”

Clarke shrugged, “She was attractive, and we had loads of long dinners here.”

Monty made an uncomfortable noise as Raven laughed, “Yeah, me and Mont were  _ witness _ to how those ended. Like seriously Clarke, the dining table? Have you no shame?  _ Hadn’t she eaten enough?” _

Monty winced again and stood up, taking his plate with him, “You know what, you’re like my sister, I can’t relive that experience.”

He left and Clarke was too busy covering her flaming red face to apologise.

She’d buy him a gift basket.

Raven cleared her throat, “The point is, if you’re into her you should probably tell her it’s more than just a sexual thing.”

Clarke removed her hands and stood up in frustration, “How, Raven? She doesn’t even know I’m attracted to her at all-”

“Oh fuck off, she knows. You couldn’t be more obvious unless you stripped naked and delivered yourself to her apartment wrapped in a red ribbon.”

Clarke rolled her eyes, “I’m not  _ that _ bad.”

Raven scoffed and sat up, doing a poor breathy imitation of Clarke’s voice, “ _ Oh Lexie, you’re so pretty. I want to braid your hair and take you on picnics and kiss your tiny, tiny ears.” _

“I have never in my  _ life _ called her Lexie.”

“But that’s the only inaccurate part, right? Right.”

_ Lexa  _ does _ have adorable ears… dammit Raven. _

Clarke groaned and sat back on the couch in defeat. She hadn’t realised quite how quickly she had fallen for Lexa. After they first met, they called each other every few days, usually about work.

Now though? It was rare they didn’t speak every day. Lexa would phone her up in the morning before setting off for work, just to ask how she slept and if she wanted her to pick up any breakfast. It had gotten to the point that Raven would know if they hadn’t spoken on that day because Clarke was so snippy.

Her heart felt so  _ full _ around Lexa sometimes that it was hard to breathe, and the thought of losing even her friendship made her feel sick to the stomach.

If she told Lexa and was rejected… her stomach turned again.

_ Even thinking about it makes me feel like I’ve been punched in the gut. _

Clarke closed her eyes in surrender, “Raven, I can’t handle being rejected by her.”

Raven scoffed, “Rejected? You’re  _ Clarke Griffin.  _ Golden Globe nominee, Emmy award winner. Body of a goddess - I would know,” she winked, “You’re ridiculously kind, and fun, and Lexa is already halfway in love with you.”

“You’re being nice to me. I don’t trust it.” Clarke mumbled but rolled into Raven’s side, pushing her face into her shoulder. Raven hid her smile and curled an arm around Clarke, pulling her further into her.

“Every time she comes over she spends half her time staring at you and half her time pretending she’s not staring at you. It would be embarrassing if it wasn’t so cute. Her little ears go all red when I catch her, it’s hilarious.”

Clarke made a muffled noise but kept her face hidden in Ravens hair, tickling the back of her neck accidentally.

“When you flirt with her - which is basically all the time you interact, so good luck with the panel-” Clarke groaned again, “she either plucks up the courage to flirt back or stutters like a pre-teen boy. My final-”  _ Oh thank God  _ “-piece of  _ damning _ evidence that Lexa is totally into you is that time we were showing her the pictures from our vacation to Australia. You were in that tiny bikini, wet through with your hair down.” Raven paused, “She turned red, averted her eyes from your tits and looked solely at your face.”

Clarke lifted her head, “Lexa is into me, because she  _ didn’t  _ look at my tits?”

Raven looked at her like she was supremely stupid, “No, idiot, she’s into you because she saw your glorious cleavage and then  _ chose  _ to look away out of respect. Even  _ I  _ stared at your boobs for most of that holiday, and I’m just your friend.”

Clarke stared at her in silence for a few moments, then untangled herself from Raven. Standing, she turned to talk to her friend, “You know you give the absolute  _ weirdest  _ pep-talks right?”

Raven nodded, “Oh, yeah. It worked though, didn’t it?”

_ Absolutely. _

* * *

 

Lexa was waiting backstage at the panel, just behind the curtain. Titus shuffled uncomfortably next to her, and she felt she was doing a stand up job of completely ignoring him. At least, until he opened his mouth.

Again.

“I’m actually surprised you invited me here at all, Lexa. The way you had been screening my calls since the  _ incident _ on set nearly destroyed twitter had led me to believe you were set on ignoring my advice forever.”

Lexa rolled her eyes and tugged on her slacks, “No, Titus, I employ you to give me advice on public interaction, not to belittle and judge my relationship with my co-star. This panel is with the public, as are many of the interviews afterwards. Your advice in this case would be appreciated.”

Titus nodded, apparently thoroughly chastened, and launched into his advice for the panel. He highlighted most of what Lexa already knew; the questions would be moderated, she didn’t have to answer a question if she didn’t want to, under no circumstances argue with an audience member or interviewer. Don’t make promises regarding the show that she can’t be sure will be kept, and don’t spoil anything unless Miller has explicitly given the go ahead.

Lexa nodded, actually making the effort to listen to him. She didn’t feel like there would be a problem, regardless of how nervous she was.

“Finally, try to restrain your interactions with Clarke-”

Lexa set her jaw, “Public Relations, not Private, Titus.”

He opened his mouth to argue further but he stilled, looking at something over Lexa’s shoulder, “She’s here, along with her own PR manager. I’m sure we can come to an agreement on this.”

Lexa turned and found herself with an armful of Clarke.

_ Sorry Titus, not giving this up anytime soon. _

Lexa wrapped her own arms around Clarke and squeezed, smiling as she felt Clarke relax into her and sigh against her body. Her face was buried in the crook of Clarke’s neck and she took a very subtle sniff of her perfume as she rested there.

_ She even  _ smells _ amazing, I’m doomed. _

Clarke pulled back, and Lexa was dimly aware of who she assumed was Wells greeting Titus next to them as Clarke smiled at her, having moved her hands from her back to grip Lexa’s arms instead.

“You’re going to be amazing,” her hands rubbed Lexa’s biceps over her shirt, and Lexa had to make a conscious effort to keep breathing, “I’ll be right next to you the whole time.”

_ I believe that’s what Titus is worried about. _

Wells had finished greeting Titus and was making his way over to Lexa, eyeing Clarke’s hands with a poorly concealed smirk. He was dressed in a tailored navy suit and wore a wide grin as he held his hand out to Lexa, “Wells Jaha, pleasure to meet you. Clarke has not stopped-”

Clarke cleared her throat, stepping back from Lexa as Wells laughed.

Lexa elected to ignore whatever exchange just occurred and smiled as warmly as possible at the man she had taken an instant liking to, “Likewise. You’re very well dressed.”

Wells adjusted his collar jokingly and winked, “Well, when you’re escorting a beautiful woman to an event, you’ve gotta be on your game.”

Lexa felt her stomach drop.

_ He’s Clarke’s date? _

She forced a smile onto her face but feared it didn’t quite reach her eyes. Clarke stepped closer again and rested a hand on Lexa’s forearm, “Wells has been my friend since I moved over here. I figured I should treat him to a night out sometimes.”

Lexa let herself feel a spark of hope.

_ She called him a friend. _

Wells was laughing again, “A night out? As your friend I’m grateful, as your PR manager I’m terrified.”

Lexa let herself look Clarke over as they bantered between themselves, and she was pretty sure she felt her heart skip a beat. Clarke was in a white dress that dipped low over her chest  _ (don’t stare don’t stare)  _ with a strap just under her collarbone. The dress widened at the waist and flowed freely around her thighs  _ (Oh my God her legs- don’t stare) _ , ending about half a foot above her knees. Wells was holding a black leather jacket that she presumed was Clarke’s.

With a start, Lexa realised they matched.

_ Titus is going to have a field day. _

Clarke wrapped an arm around her waist and leaned into her, whispering in her ear, “You look great by the way, slacks, suspenders, shirt and heels? Women could  _ die  _ Lexa.”

Lexa tried not to react to Clarke’s lips brushing her ear but couldn’t suppress a shudder as her breathing raised goosebumps down her neck.

Lexa snapped out of her daze to see Finn Collins - the man who played Jacob, Clarke’s on-screen love interest - arrive. He greeted everyone warmly, and - despite having to watch him kiss Clarke frequently on set - Lexa was really quite fond of him. He was relatively quiet usually, always respectful and hardworking.

_ Almost makes up for that ridiculous floppy hair. _

Clarke squeezed her hip and pulled out her phone, “Pre-panel selfie? Gotta give the fans what they want.”

Lexa smiled obligingly into the camera, and the light blush staining the top of her cheekbones was barely noticeable in the photo.

Clarke looked at her victoriously, “God, we look hot.”

 

**@theRealGriffC:** Pre-panel selfie with the beautiful @LexW00ds #Clexa  pic.twitter.com/jDYQAL1Ji8

 

Lexa raised an eyebrow at her, “Are you  _ trying _ to give Titus a stroke or…”

Clarke nudged her, “Oh he’ll survive, Finn!” Clarke gestured Finn closer, “I need more pictures with those beautiful flowing locks.”

Lexa glanced over at Titus, who was stock still and staring exasperatedly at Lexa.

_ He might not survive Clarke Griffin, but I definitely won’t. _

* * *

 

Lexa made it successfully to her seat next to Miller without falling over, so she had already gotten further than she had in her stress-dream the night before.

The audience was loud,  _ really  _ loud, and seemed to consist mainly of young women screaming which would be concerning in any other context.

The moderator announced Clarke’s name and Lexa turned to watch as she emerged, waving at the audience and practically floating towards her seat. Lexa grinned at her and pulled out Clarkes seat for her before taking her own. The action seemed to prompt another round of cheering from the crowd and Lexa fought a blush.

As the rest of the cast was introduced - Finn receiving a slightly quieter cheer but loud nonetheless - along with the writers, Lexa took the time to record a little on her phone and take a sip of her water. 

She felt calmer than she had backstage, and by the time the moderator asked her the first question, she was practically relaxed.

“So, Lexa,” The moderator had to pause as the audience screamed again, “Lexa, you’re cast in your first major show as a lead. Your character is not only completely badass but also a lesbian, and on top of all that pressure, you’re acting across from Clarke Griffin. Any nerves?”

There was some scattered laughter in the crowd and Lexa laughed, leaning towards the mic in front of her, “I mean, Jaime is way more badass than I could ever hope to be. I work out and stuff but a lot of it is down to our amazing stunt team - especially Lincoln Groves, my main stunt coordinator. He’s incredible and deserves a lot of credit.” 

She paused as the crowd clapped before continuing, “I didn’t feel a lot of pressure over my character being lesbian, I was mostly interested in portraying her well and trusting the writers, but I was very excited for the opportunity to give some representation, main character representation as well. As for Clarke-” She laughed and heard Clarke snort next to her as the audience screamed, “Clarke saved my ass on the day of our chemistry read. My car had broken down and I was stranded, and she found me on the curb.”

“Like a sad, sad abandoned puppy.” Clarke chimed in, much to the laughter of everyone in the room.

“Yes, Clarke, thank you for that. Anyway, she saved me and I’ve spent every day since trying to make it up to her. She’s incredible to act with and even better to spend time with. However, I was absolutely intimidated when we first met.”

Lexa leaned back, feeling she had just about dodged a bullet by not rambling on about Clarke for another 5 minutes.

“Thanks babe, you still owe me though.” Clarke sent her a cheeky grin.

_ Titus is going to  _ kill  _ me. _

* * *

 

“Okay so now it’s time for audience questions, there’s a mic in the middle…”

This was the part that Lexa was most nervous for. Especially considering the interest on twitter about Jaime and Emily romantically, she was concerned she wouldn’t be able to keep her mouth shut.

Sure enough, a girl stood up to the mic, maybe late teens but Lexa was struggling to see her through the lights, and spoke a little shakily, “I love you guys and the show, my question is for Lexa and Clarke,” Clarke immediately started grinning and Lexa could hear Miller chuckling quietly next to her, “I was wondering what you think of Jaime and Emily romantically on the show?”

Miller leaned forward, “no spoilers” he sang, prompting more laughter from the crowd.

Lexa paused and looked to Clarke, who just smiled at her. Finn took the moment to speak, “What about Jacob and Emily? Where’s the love?”

Clarke laughed and ruffled his hair, “Sorry, Jacob is very pretty but Jaime is prettier.”

There was a cheer from the crowd and Lexa decided to risk it, “I think it’s a great idea, I mean Emily clearly wants to be all over Jaime-” she said with a smirk and a wink at Clarke, the crowd laughed more as Clarke nodded gravely “-and also, who  _ doesn’t _ want to kiss Clarke Griffin?”

The next question was for the writing team, about the balance of sci-fi and more normal crime in the show, and the next for Miller. Finally, a question was asked for the entire cast.

“What are your favourite bloopers that you can remember and who in the cast do you hang out with the most off set?”

Lexa chuckled as she leaned forward, “Okay, so Clarke is australian, and while her accent isn’t really strong, the medical terms she has to pronounce in an american accent are just a  _ disaster _ sometimes.” Clarke shrugged and tilted her head in agreement, “I’m not kidding, we’ve had to literally change scripts because she’ll say an entire sentence with an american accent only to reach a word and go full aussie.”

Clarke rolled her eyes, “Okay since Lexa decided to embarrass me, my favourite blooper so far was the time Lexa had to do this badass slide over a car bonnet and pull out her gun. She managed the slide, but her pants were so tight she literally couldn’t pull out her gun from her waistband.” Lexa dropped her face to the desk to hide her blush and felt Clarke rub her back, “She pulled really hard and it literally  _ flew _ right at a cameraman. It was great.”

Lexa lifted her head and mumbled into the mic, “I’m glad you find my suffering so funny, Clarke.”

“Oh hush.”

The moderator cut in, “And who do you hang out with most off set?”

_ Titus is  _ not _ going to like this answer. _

Clarke laughed, “Literally half my twitter pictures recently should give you the answer to that question.”

Lexa rolled her eyes and looked towards the audience with a pained stare, “I’ll just turn up at her apartment for the free food and she ambushes me with her phone camera, it’s cruel.”

The panel concluded soon after, and Lexa was ushered off the stage with a final wave to the crowd. 

She arrived at the backstage area only to find Titus, red in the face, mouth set firmly in a scowl.

_ Oops. _


	6. Truth or Dare (the tale of the romantic lapdance)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Someone comes out of the closet, Clarke is very nervous and very thirsty, as is Lexa - but what's new? They film the season finale, attend the wrap party, and play Truth or Dare.

It was the day they were to film the final scenes of the season finale, and Clarke was a little…  _ on edge. _

It wasn’t as if Clarke had spent a large amount of her personal thinking time imagining if Lexa’s lips are as soft as they look, or about the noises she would make if Clarke was to bite them.

Not at all.

She valiantly fought against the memory of just last week, where she came harder than she ever had before, hand in her sweatpants while imagining those lips pressed against her clit.

_ When you’re imagining her while masturbating, you’re fucked Griffin. _

She was alone in her trailer – the scene wouldn’t be shot until later that day, and Lexa had some scenes to shoot herself before then. She wasn’t sure how Lexa was feeling about the scene. It had become an unspoken subject between them and Clarke wasn’t entirely pleased about it.

It wasn’t just the idea that Lexa was uncomfortable with kissing her, though the very  _ thought _ made her chest  _ ache _ and her stomach turn. It was also the concept that Lexa was worried and she hadn’t come to Clarke about it.

They were friends, best friends even, and more than that Lexa had often asked Clarke for advice with regards to acting. Their relationship was comfortable and easy and the thought that Lexa had been hiding potential worries from her was…

Clarke sighed and checked the clock; 14:56 **.** Lexa would be wrapping up her scenes soon, and she really didn’t want to sit there alone and panic for the rest of the day.

She checked her twitter and scrolled through the usual mentions from her followers until one of them in particular caught her eye:

**@ClexAHHH98:** @theRealGriffC who plays the most pranks on set? I love you!

She liked the tweet and opened her periscope app, the viewer count climbing rapidly despite the impromptu nature of the broadcast. She gave a half-grin into the camera, sending the comments section into an explosion of teen girls screaming, and started walking out of her trailer as she spoke, “Okay guys, so we don’t normally prank much on set – we don’t have a bunch of time to shoot and I feel bad if we hold up the crew too much.  _ However,” _ she winked, carefully making her way to the trailer just next to hers and whispering into her phone, “Lex and I are shooting the finale today and I think she would just  _ love _ a surprise.”

She panned the camera up to show the name on the trailer door “ _ Det. Jaime Cooper (Lexa Woods)” _

She looked cheekily into the camera, “So, suggestions?”

_ I really should have specified… _ Clarke thought as she read the numerous messages, “Okay, to scare her with a spider a) I’d have to touch a spider and b) she’d have to be scared of them. Lexa has been called over to my apartment multiple times to find myself and Monty screaming on the counter…” she read some more, “I said  _ surprise _ her, what makes you think that finding me naked in her trailer is anything out of the norm for us?”

She laughed but then winced, “Titus is going to murder me and he’s not even my PR manager.”

In the end she chose the suggestion coming up most frequently that wasn’t “kiss her”.

“Right, I can hide in her closet, she’s due back from set in a few minutes, and it’s not like I didn’t spend longer hiding in a closet when I was younger.”

With another conspiratorial wink, Clarke let herself into Lexa’s trailer to find it dark, blinds closed and tidy.

She squinted around the small room and headed for the closet, the chat suddenly exploding with excited messages.

“I hope you guys don’t mind waiti-“

“AHHHH!”

“OH MY GOD!” Clarke jumped about a foot in the air, heart pounding, “DON’T DO THINGS LIKE THAT!”

She stumbled back to sit on the couch and Lexa emerged from the closet, already out of costume and in her sweatpants and muscle shirt, “ _ Fuck that was funny, _ I didn’t know you could be so  _ Australian.” _

Lexa was laughing as hard as Clarke had ever seen her, tears leaking out of her eyes as she leaned heavily against the wall and switched on the lights. With the lights on, Clarke could see her dimples and her tiny laugh lines and suddenly her heart rate sped up again, this time it was nothing to do with the jumpscare.

She could also see her smug, asshole-ish grin that Clarke found  _ infinitely  _ attractive.

_ God only knows why. _

Lexa was also holding up her phone, and Clarke narrowed her eyes, holding her own up again, “How did you know?”

Lexa rolled her eyes, “Come on Clarke, I have an alert set for whenever you broadcast. I had a good five minutes warning.”

“Crap… guess they cast the detective well then.”

Lexa scoffed, “It wasn’t exactly a Poirot mystery. Also at least half of your followers are snitches, they told me everything.”

Clarke sent a faux-glare into the camera, “Yet I received no similar warning. I see how it is.”

Lexa stopped her own broadcast and soon Clarke saw her viewer count double as all of Lexa’s viewers migrated to her. Lexa made her way over to the couch and slumped down next to her, wincing a little.

Clarke pouted, “Get a little banged up?”

Lexa cringed and rubbed the base of her spine, “Lincoln put me on my ass at least three times before filming, and then  _ Finn Clumsy Collins _ accidentally tripped into me, sent me into a curb.”

“Awww, did he apologise? It’s all the hair, makes him overbalance.”

Lexa swung her legs up to rest over Clarke’s lap, “Of course he apologised. Now, I’m more interested in the other options you had for pranking me…”

Clarke snorted, “ _ Of course  _ you are.”

Lexa kept her face as straight as possible, “No, no, very seriously,” her façade cracked and she legitimately  _ giggled _ – a noise Clarke doesn’t think she’s heard from Lexa before – before continuing, “what was that about waiting in here for me naked? I preferred that option.”

Lexa sent her a ridiculous attempt at a seductive look and Clarke groaned before ending the broadcast, slapping at Lexa’s legs. Lexa laughed for a little longer before she relaxed back into the couch.

Silence fell between them.

_ And it’s awkward again. _

Clarke let it hold for another minute or so before breaking, “Okay you know what? We have to talk about this.”

Lexa looked at her sideways, “I’m not following, I’m sorry.”

Clarke huffed and sat up sharply, sending Lexa’s legs sliding onto the floor.

“We need to talk about it.” Clarke looked into Lexa’s eyes, seeing nothing but confusion.

Lexa sat up, pushing herself up on her arms to pull her legs underneath her, and Clarke really appreciated the view the muscle shirt was giving her of toned arms and shoulders.

_ Going to be dreaming about those again. _

Clarke blinked,  _ focus, _ “The kiss. You’re nervous.”

Lexa frowned, “Uh-“

“Understandable, you’re worried and apprehensive and stressed about it-“

“Clarke.”

“-and you could have just  _ told _ me because we tell each other things, you know?”

“Clarke.” Lexa shuffled forward and pressed her hands soothingly on Clarke’s shoulders, “I’m not worried. We’ll nail it. Though it sounds like you might be concerned?”

Clarke sputtered, flustered, and the weight of Lexa’s hands on her shoulders was making her breathing stutter. Clarke took a deep breath and looked tentatively at Lexa, who was looking at her with the  _ softest _ green eyes and thick lashes and a small, familiar smile.

_ Fuck. _

“Okay, so maybe I was projecting. I don’t even know why I’m so worked up about this-”  _ lie number one _ , “-because obviously I’ve done this with Finn and it was fine and it will be the same thing-“  _ lie number two _ , Clarke was rambling now, and Lexa had a little frown on her face, “-so maybe-“

Clarke stopped talking as Lexa leaned forward, bumping their foreheads gently together.

Clarke let out a shaky breath, watched as Lexa’s eyelids fluttered shut.

Her own lids closed, and all she could sense suddenly was  _ Lexa. _

Lexa’s lips brushing softly against her own trembling ones.

Lexa’s nose nudging hers as she tilted her head.

Lexa’s soft lips again as they pushed gently against her, parting ever so slightly.

Lexa’s perfume and Lexa’s soft sighs and  _ Lexa Lexa Lexa. _

Clarke relaxed into her as one of Lexa’s hands moved from her shoulder to cup the back of her neck, where her thumb stroked her nape as they kissed, tickling the soft baby hairs there and sending tingles down her spine.

They parted briefly and Clarke could feel Lexa’s trembling breaths against her lips as she dipped forwards again, Clarke capturing Lexa’s bottom lip between her own and  _ sucking _ and she doesn’t know when she slid her hand high onto Lexa’s thigh but she wasn’t about to remove it.

Clarke has no idea how long it lasted, but suddenly she was gasping and pulling away slowly, staring at Lexa and her swollen lips and her heavy breathing-

_ Did we- did she just- _

Lexa seemed to snap out of the daze first, retracting her hands swiftly and sending her a poor, shaky imitation of her usual cocky smile, “See? Nothing to worry about.”

Clarke bit her lip, her heart thumping even harder in her chest at the taste of Lexa’s lipgloss still smeared on her mouth, “Right, nothing to worry about.”

_ Lie number three. _

* * *

 

After the kiss, Clarke had stammered an excuse and retreated to her own trailer, and so Clarke and Lexa arrived to the set at 7pm separately. If Miller noticed the tension between them, he didn’t comment.

Monty had been called into the shoot to be “an extra opinion” on the camerawork. Clarke suspected it wasn’t the camerawork her flatmate was eyeing, though she was hardly one to talk about professionalism on set considering who’s lips she had been firmly attached to only hours before.

Lexa was going through some blocking across the room. The scene was set in an abandoned office block, with concrete floors and gutted walls, fake electrical wire dangling from the ceiling.

Clarke’s movement in the scene was significantly simpler than Lexa’s – enter the room behind her, spot the body, run towards it with Lexa giving chase, “hear” movement next to her, spot an assailant with a gun, and then let Lexa dive in front of her.

Lexa was practicing the dive at this moment, and though there was a discrete mat placed, Clarke winced each time her body hit the hard concrete floor.

To distract herself she sidled up to Monty, deciding to bring up something she’d been putting off for a while, “Having fun?”

Monty turned to her and grinned, “I feel like my  _ extra opinion _ isn’t exactly needed, but I’ll take the pay.” He ran a hand through his messy hair, “Rent doesn’t pay itself.”

“About that. I’ve been thinking…” Clarke trailed off, unable to think of a way to initiate the conversation without making it sound like she was giving her friends handouts.

Monty seemed to pick up on her discomfort, “Is it about the flat?”

Clarke hesitated, “Kind of, I just- I think it’s stupid that I have all this money – my own money now, not my dads – and we’re still living in that apartment.”

Monty narrowed his eyes, “Clarke, no.”

Clarke held her hands up in a placating gesture, “Hear me out, ok? I got paid a bunch for those movies, and this show pays really well, and I’ve seen this gorgeous house-“

“When you just happened to be browsing the housing market?”

“…okay so maybe I’ve been looking for a while. The point is, it has a garden, and a pool, and two guest houses – not rooms, guest  _ houses _ – and I know you and Raven will insist on paying some kind of rent but I think it would be good for us. You would get more space for your photography and Raven would have more room for… whatever shady, dangerous things she does in her free time.”

Monty was silent for a moment, “I’d pay rent, Clarke; I’m not a freeloader just because you can afford it.”

Clarke rolled her eyes, “I know, though you’ve been my friend for years and it would be more of a  _ thank you for letting me crash on your sofa when I was a struggling actress.” _

“I’d pay rent.” Monty stared her down.

Clarke could hear Lexa’s laughter across set and then heard Miller clap his hands in the way he always does when they’re ready to shoot, and so she relented, “Fine, you’d pay rent. I still have to ask Ray but I knew you’d give the most resistance.”

Monty snorted and nodded his agreement, and Clarke ruffled his hair fondly before moving over to join Miller.

Lexa had seemingly forgotten their earlier tension, or was a much better actress than even Clarke gave her credit for, because she seemed entirely back to normal when she eyed Clarke’s late arrival and quipped, “The great Clarke Griffin has honoured us with her presence.”

Clarke rolled her eyes but bumped their shoulders together, pleased that the awkwardness had blown over.

Miller clapped his hands again, “Okay, so this is the scene that I’ve been excited to shoot since we wrote the episode  _ months  _ ago. Remember, Clarke, Emily broke up with Jacob only weeks before this but has had feelings for Jaime since they met – she  _ can’t lose her,  _ the kiss should show that _. _ Lexa,” Miller trained his gaze on her, “Jaime’s actions speak for themselves; she has no idea Emily likes her back but is willing to die for her because she loves her. I know you’ll both nail it.”

The small crowd dispersed. Clarke and Lexa were left in the middle of the room, Clarke scuffing her heel nervously against the concrete.

Lexa ducked her head to meet her eyes, green gazing into blue, “You ready?” She rested a hand on Clarke’s forearm, gripping ever so slightly, “I even reapplied that strawberry lip-gloss - you seemed to like it…” The smug grin was back and Clarke swatted her shoulder, “Hey! Watch the violence Griffin! Is that any way to treat the girl who’s about to take a bullet for you?”

Clarke didn’t dignify that with a response, instead walking determinedly over to the door and dragging a laughing Lexa with her.

“Scene 3, A, Take 1. Action!”

* * *

 

_ Jaime shot Emily a warning look and pushed her further behind her, pressing against the wall and drawing her gun. _

_ “We should wait for backup, the scene hasn’t been cleared and-“ _

_ “And we’re wasting valuable time when we could be looking at the scene and finally catching this guy.” Emily cut in, glaring at Jaime who gave in with a sigh and an eyeroll. _

_ “You stay behind me, you got that?” _

_ Emily answered with a sweet smile and a nod towards the door, which Jaime kicked open and darted through. The second she stopped in the doorway, Emily pushed past her and towards the scene, Jaime cursing and sprinting after her. _

_ Emily had stopped dead in her tracks when she saw the body, “Jaime… Jaime it’s dummy.” _

_ Jaime paused in her scanning of the room, “What?” _

_ Emily backed towards her slowly, “It’s a trap, it’s not a real body, J.” She heard the scuff of a boot and turned towards a dark corner of the room. _

_ Jaime’s eyes widened. _

_ A gunshot rang out across the room and the assailant made his escape as Jaime’s body hit the floor with a dull thud. _

_ “Jaime!” _

_ Emily dropped to her knees, pulling at Jaime until she was flat on her back with her head pillowed on Emily’s jacket. _

_ Jaime wheezed out a grin, “Bulletproof vest, I’m not an idiot Em.” She frowned as she coughed and wheezed heavier, “Not feeling too great though…” _

_ Emily was busy removing the Kevlar vest, feeling around the detective’s ribs and going pale. _

_ Jaime was coughing harder, “Emily?” She pressed a hand to her chest, “Em it hurts.” _

_ Emily schooled her features as best she could, “Hey, hey, just try to breathe okay. You have a few broken ribs; the impact of the bullet must have fractured them. I-I-“ She stammered, blinking rapidly, “I think one of them might have splintered inwards and collapsed your left lung.” _

_ Jaime winced, “That’s,” cough “that’s not great huh?” _

_ Emily laughed shakily, a few tears spilling out of her eyes, “Not really, no.” _

_ Jaime tried for a grin but instead coughed harder, some crimson staining the corner of her lips. _

_ The second she stopped coughing, she spoke again, “Ironic if I survived,” a gasp, “all those fucking creatures, to die from a gunshot.” _

_ Emily made a displeased noise and busied herself looking through her medkit, finding her scalpel and some tubing, “You’re not dying. Stop saying that. I’m a doctor.” _

_ Jaime grinned a red smile, “Yeah, for  _ dead _ people.” _

_ “You’re not dying.” _

_ Emily tore the undershirt Jaime was wearing under the vest and grimaced at the state of her ribs and the black bruise spreading across her left side. _

_ “Not exactly how I’d hoped you’d be taking my clothes off sweetheart.” _

_ “Stop talking.” _

_ “Oh, very take charge. I like that.” _

_ Emily was crying in earnest but managed a tiny laugh, “Most people struggle to talk this much with a punctured lung, does anything shut you-” _

_ She was surprised by lips on her own, trembling and wet and the taste of copper in her mouth. Jaime only managed to stay sat up for another moment before she fell back to the ground, coughing up more blood and going paler by the second. _

_ Jaime smiled weakly, “Sorry, it’s just, my vision is going little blurry. Didn’t want to die without knowing what you looked like after I kissed you.” She shrugged, “You’re more upset than I had imagined.” _

_ Emily let out a short laugh, “I’ll make an effort to look happier next time.” _

_ Jaime wheezed and winced as Emily made a small incision in her side with her scalpel, “Next time? I think-“ cough, wet coughs that spluttered and shook her, “I think the lack of oxygen is getting to me. Could you repeat that?” _

_ Emily grimaced as she inserted the tubing, breathing a little easier when she heard the tell-tale whistle of accumulated air escape from the tube, “I said I’ll look happier next time you kiss me, preferably after a dinner. I’m no cheap date.” _

_ Jaime grinned widely, eyes hazy and breathing pained and exhausted, “A date? I can do that.” She began to drift out of consciousness, “I thought you and Jacob…” _

_ Emily tugged her fingers through Jaime’s hair in an attempt to calm them both down, though only Emily had a frantic look on her face, “I don’t want  _ Jacob. _ I want  _ you.”

_ Jaime smiled weakly, only managing to stutter out a simple, “awesome” before she lost consciousness, much to Emily’s panic. _

_ “No. No come back, Jaime.” The radio crackled again, telling her that the ambulance she’d called for was only a minute out. “Jaime, please. Don’t. Jaime.” _

* * *

 

“Cut!” Miller was clapping and Clarke shuffled back from Lexa, wiping her eyes on her sleeves because her hands were still covered in the sticky, fake blood.

Despite being able to separate herself from her character, the image of Lexa lying on the ground in front of her and coughing up blood was one that had shaken her somewhat. She wiped her trembling hands a little harder against her jeans.

Lexa sat up, smacking her lips and grimacing, “Fake blood tastes like ass.”

Clarke let out a loud bark of laughter; Lexa’s sudden return to the world of the living with something so crude calming her immensely, “Oh you’d know would you?”

Lexa levelled her with a look, “You don’t want to know.” She kept her face blank until she broke with a laugh, “Okay, so it tastes like what I  _ imagine _ ass tastes like. You got me.”

Lexa sat up with a groan and pushed onto her feet, raising her eyebrows when she noticed Clarke was frozen and scanning her exposed torso, “Clarke?”

Clarke coughed and mumbled something about the prosthetic wound and the tube, blushing to her hairline where the red contrasted heavily with her blonde hair.

Miller made his way over, “Awesome. Literally everyone was crying. I loved it.”

Clarke looked at him oddly, “You realise that makes you sound like a sadist, right?”

He grinned, “Oh I know.” He started walking away but turned back to them both, “I’m guessing you’ll be at the wrap party later?”

Clarke glanced at Lexa who was already nodding, and followed suit, “Sure, tell me it has party games though.”

Miller scoffed, “Of course it has party games, who do you think I am Griffin?”

He walked to the centre of the room, “That is officially a wrap on the first season of Grounded!” There was scattered applause and cheering, and he waited until they died down to speak again, “On behalf of both myself and the entire writing room, I’d like to say thank you not only to our cast, but also to the crew that made this possible. Cameras, lights, sound, hair and makeup, set design, editing, effects, Crafty, all of you were terrific.” More applause, “I would especially like to thank Clarke and Lexa for bringing these characters to life, and for giving us the incredible chemistry needed to tell the story.” Cheering and the occasional wolf-whistle, leaving Lexa smirking and Clarke grinning, “You’re all invited to the wrap party tonight – you’re all free to get completely drunk. Thanks again!”

Clarke let out a sigh and looked over to see Lexa looking at her already, “Wanna go get out of costume? These heels are killing me.”

Lexa smiled softly, and they looked at each other for a moment before Lexa ruined it, “Your heels? My mouth tastes like rhino shit.”

Clarke shoved her and they walked towards their trailers together.

* * *

 

So.

The wrap party was… an experience.

_ This is the drunkest I’ve seen Miller, and we went to college together. _

She had instantly taken a nap when she returned home from set, valiantly avoiding any and all questions from Raven about the kiss, and then changed into some casual leggings and an oversized blue shirt.

From the way a now drunk Lexa had stared at her quite obviously for a solid minute, then swallowed visibly, she’d made a good outfit choice.

Clarke herself had elected not to get drunk. It wasn’t a question of professionalism; Miller had assured them that they had all done their jobs and this was a celebration.

_ More a question of whether or not my impulse control is strong enough now I know how soft Lexa’s lips are. _

This left Clarke in the privileged position of being the only sober one in the bar that Miller had booked out. She was stood on the edge of the dance floor and leaned against the wall, one of her Vans propped against the wall behind her as she sipped on her weak vodka cran.

She was startled as someone barrelled into her from the side, sending her staggering sideways before she could catch herself. A mane of curly brown hair was falling against the left side of her face, and from the strength of the arms around her waist and the familiar smell of berries, she knew exactly who was embracing her.

_ “Clarke!” _

Clarke laughed, “Having fun Lex?”

Lexa pulled her closer and nodded into the crook of her neck. Clarke suppressed a shiver as warm breath breezed across her skin.

When it became clear that she wasn’t detaching herself anytime soon, nor making an attempt to keep up conversation, Clarke tried again, “How much have you had to drink?”

Lexa kept her body pressed close but looked up from where she had been nosing Clarke’s collarbone, “So many,” she said solemnly, “so so many.”

Clarke made no attempt to stifle a giggle, and Lexa lit up at the sound, grinning unabashedly at her, “You’re really pretty.”

This time Clarke remained silent but was betrayed by her obvious blush, something Lexa clearly noticed as she gazed at her.

Clarke looked around, allowing Lexa to burrow happily back into her neck again and humming as she did. Miller and Monty were gathering people into some sort of circle in the centre of the bar – holding hands as they did so – and Clarke made her way over awkwardly, Lexa still clinging to her.

Miller guffawed when he saw them, and Monty grinned with unfocused eyes, “We’re playing Truth or Dare,” he slurred, “wanna join?”

Clarke and Lexa answered at the same time,

“What are we, twelve?”

“Yesss.”

Clarke figured that nobody would remember anything embarrassing Lexa did under the influence anyway, and conceded. Miller cheered and Lexa dragged her to sit down in a space with Harper the PA on Clarke’s right and Monty on Lexa’s left.

Clarke figured Miller wasn’t going to say anything, so she spoke up herself, “What happens and what anyone says in this game stays between us. If I see this on social media,” she glared around the circle in warning, “I’m suing whoever did it.”

There was a general mumble of agreement, Lexa’s “that was so hot” a little louder in her ear.

Miller held up some clearly pre-prepared cards with a flourish and set an empty beer bottle in the centre of the circle. Glancing around Clarke counted about 20 people in the circle, the other partygoers choosing to stay dancing or chatting at the bar.

Before spinning, he held up his hand, “If you don’t answer or do the dare, you have to take a shot from the middle.”

Everyone groaned and he laughed and span the bottle, watching as it landed on Finn. Finn immediately asked for Truth and Miller picked up a card, “If you had to sleep with anyone in this room, who would it be?”

Half the circle immediately turned to look at an embarrassed Clarke, while Finn grimaced and reached for a shot in lieu of an answer. Lexa appeared to notice the attention on Clarke and frowned, pulling her close with a tight arm around her waist.

Many of the players booed Finn but her just gave a wane smile, “Sorry guys, you’re all my friends,” he eyed Lexa’s possessive grip on Clarke, “and I’m also not looking to get punched.”

Clarke smiled at him fondly and he gave a little salute. He reached forward to spin the bottle. It landed on Monty who asked for a Dare, and Finn squinted as he read the card, “Kiss the person to your right on the lips for a full minute.”

Monty and Lexa looked at each other and grimaced. Lexa kept her arm around Clarke and muttered something about being “too gay for that”.

Monty frowned and nodded in agreement.

Miller rolled his eyes and pulled Monty towards him, planting an enthusiastic kiss on his lips. Monty was much happier with this development and pushed further into Miller, leaving Clarke wondering if they’d even break apart when she called time on the 60 seconds.

They did stop when she said the time was up, breaking apart with matching dopey grins on their faces

Monty span the bottle, watching with delight as it landed on Clarke who felt a deep dread settle in her stomach.

_ Oh no. _

“Truth.”

_ No way in Hell I’m letting him lie about what is on the card and dare me to kiss Lexa.” _

Monty rolled his eyes but picked up a card, “Best kiss you’ve ever had?”

Clarke went to take a shot instead of admitting that her favourite kiss was with someone she’d never even dated.

Monty pouted at having his fun taken away from him, “Come on. Okay, best kiss you’ve had on the show?”

Clarke ignored Lexa cuddling into her side and stared him down.

“No comment.”

Monty pushed, “You have to have a preference.”

Clarke bit her lip and rolled her eyes heavenward, “Fine, I have a preference,” there were scattered  _ “ooooh” _ s around the circle, “and you’ll never find out which way that swings.”

Clarke pretended not to hear his muttered “spoilsport” and twirled the bottle, sighing in relief as it moved past Lexa, Monty, Miller and landed on Monroe.

“Truth.”

Clarke obliged and read out the card, “Have you ever had sex at work?”

Monroe blushed scarlet and Harper shifted uncomfortably next to Clarke, who was doing a good job of not letting her jaw drop.

Still, Monroe muttered out a “yes” and there were raucous catcalls before she laughed with them and span the bottle, eager to move the attention off herself.

Clarke’s heart caught in her throat as the bottle stopped.

Pointing at Lexa, who enthusiastically asked for a Dare.

_ Fuck. Fuck fuck  _ fuck.

Lexa seemed to have no such concerns, casually leaning into Clarke as she listened to Monroe, “Give the person to your right,” Clarke tensed, “a lapdance,” Clarke groaned and closed her eyes, “to the song Pony for the entire song.”

The circle erupted into laughter, and Clarke was wondering what she did in a previous life or in this one to deserve it.

_ I recycle, I donate to charity. Is this what I deserve? _

Miller was laughing so hard that tears were streaming down his face, and Monty was laughing silently and slapping his thigh as he did so. Lexa had stood up and was walking over to the DJ, having left Clarke’s side with a mumbled, “I love that song”.

In an attempt to preserve Lexa’s dignity – positive she would be embarrassed about this in the morning – Clarke stood up herself and addressed everyone, “Can we at least do that somewhere more private?”

She blushed deeply as the there were more cheers and wolf-whistles, but Finn stood up, “If you both take a shot I don’t think there’s a problem if you go into the side room.”

Clarke smiled at him gratefully and snatched up 2 shots, taking them both instead of giving Lexa  _ more _ alcohol.

Lexa stumbled back to them, the unmistakable opening notes to the song pounding through the speakers, and Clarke dragged her into the smaller side room, her head starting to feel fuzzy from the 3 shots taken in less than 5 minutes.

Lexa was pouting adorably at her, confused at the change of scenery, and Clarke reassured her, “You can still dance, just… maybe not on me.”

_ Christ, she looks downright upset now. _

“What- what I meant to say was I don’t want you to do something you wouldn’t do sober and regret it tomorrow.”

Lexa had moved to hug her, pressing her body against Clarke’s and whispering against her shoulder, “I’ve thought about dancing for you sober.”

Clarke’s eyes widened, “Um- Right. Okay. Maybe leave it for when you’re sober though.” Lexa rested her head on Clarke’s shoulder, “We can still dance together though? The song isn’t over yet.”

Clarke’s attempt to placate a clearly disappointed Lexa were successful, and she wrapped her arm around Lexa’s shoulders as they swayed, hips tucked together, in the middle of the small, dimly lit room.

_ Our first slowdance… is to the song Pony. My life is fucking weird. _

Lexa seemed content though, despite the disparity between the dance style and the song choice, and happily leaned into Clarke.

The song finished and changed to some calmer, smoother Jazz, and Clarke decided against going back out to the main floor. She pulled Lexa closer to her and rested her head against her, still swaying slowly..

They’re interrupted by a knock on the door, “Everything okay in there?” Finn’s voice rang through the wood and Lexa shuffled even closer to Clarke, gripping her shirt tighter, “Everyone’s getting kind of antsy to play again.”

Clarke removed herself from Lexa’s grasp but kept a firm hold on her hand, opening the door and dragging her back towards the circle.

“Jesus what took you guys so long?”

“Did you go for Seven Minutes in Heaven as well?”

“That dance must’ve been good.”

Clarke caught Lexa nodding and replying, “The dance was lovely” to the delight of the assembled crowd and dragged her to sit back down in the circle.

_ Definitely the most eventful wrap party I’ve been to. _

* * *

 

“Welcome back to The Blake Show, I’m Bellamy Blake and we have an awesome line-up tonight…”

Clarke was backstage, smoothing down her blouse and skirt and fiddling anxiously with her phone. This was part of the press necessary for the show, and while she’d been on The Blake Show in the past, she wasn’t exactly thrilled about being back.

She found Bellamy to be well meaning but often too pushy with his questions, regardless of if Wells had told him to leave certain topics alone. He was never rude, never overly aggressive, but he had the opinion held by many others in media that the public deserved answers to some questions.

Even if those questions centred around whether she was – in fact – sleeping with Niylah Hunter, personal trainer for celebrities and socialites.

Not to mention that while many talk-shows were filmed weeks before airing, this one happened to be live, which didn’t help her anxiety around the whole thing.

She was interrupted by a twitter notification on her phone, and smiled when she saw Lexa’s name on her screen.

**@LexW00ds:** Don’t miss the incredible @theRealGriffC on The Blake Show tonight! Send her some love #AussieOnAir

She liked the tweet and retweeted it, laughing at the immediate stream of mentions.

**@theRealGriffC:** @LexW00ds thanks babe! #NervesOfSteel

One of the PA’s arrived to escort her to the stage and Clarke placed her phone in her purse in the dressing room.

She walked on stage to resounding cheers and she smiled, resisting the urge to fiddle anxiously with her hands, waving and them placing them against her sides instead.

She met Bellamy with a light hug and a kiss on the cheek before pulling away maybe too quickly to sit down.

“Last time you were here, it was for press on Sky Girl, correct?”

_ Starting off easy. _

Clarke smiled, “Yes, over a year ago now.”

“And now you’ve moved from film to TV, how did that transition go?”

She shifted to address him more fully, “After Sky Girl I was a bit tired of film making, I wanted to do something that would let me stay in LA for a lot of the shoot – my friend Miller is a director and producer, he was making a new show and needed someone he could trust in the lead role. I jumped at the chance.” She paused, figuring out what to say next, “It’s really different in terms of character preparation for me. We don’t get sent all the scripts for the season at the same time, so we often don’t know exactly where our characters are going, in film it’s different.”

Bellamy had a glint in his eye that worried Clarke a little, “So your character, Emily, she was dating Jacob.”

_ I knew this was coming. I can practically hear Miller screaming at his TV. _

She smiled, a little thinly, but a smile nonetheless, “Played by the beautiful Finn Collins, yes.”

“They broke up in the last episode that aired, and with only 4 episodes left, there is a lot of speculation that Emily and Jaime – the other lead female character – are going to hook up.”

There was cheering and catcalls from the audience, and Clarke was grateful her acting gave her a decent poker face, “Mhmm.”

Bellamy grinned, “So?”

Clarke smirked, “Was there a question in there?”

Bellamy rolled his eyes a little, “What are the chances of there being some lady-loving between Emily and Jaime… Jaimily?”

_ ‘Lady-loving’…delightful. _

“Well I can’t tell you that now can I? Spoilers four episodes before the season ends? I’d be fired!” She forced a laugh along with him, then continued, “I can say though that  _ if _ that storyline was to happen, it wouldn’t just be a token  _ ‘hook-up’ _ , or experimentation between the straight lead female character and her lesbian friend. It would be handled with care and respect. That’s all I’ll say on the topic.”

Bellamy seemed to accept this, and moved on to his next line of questioning, “Lexa Woods.”

_ I wish he’d stayed on the last topic. _

Clarke couldn’t help her smile when Lexa was mentioned though, “Amazing actress.”

“She’s relatively new to the acting scene, but from your respective social medias you seem to have become fast friends.”

His smile was innocent, but this was how the last interview started before he sprung the Niylah question on her.

_ He’s digging. _

“She’s truly one of the most genuine people I’ve ever met, very caring and considerate. Always willing to come over to my flat and catch the spiders, that sort of thing.”

“Of course,” Bellamy had that disarming lopsided grin now, and Clarke tensed, “She seems to spend a great deal of time at your apartment, do you get that many spiders? I could recommend an exterminator if it’s a problem.”

The audience laughed and she laughed along, certain that most of the people who knew her well would be able to read her discomfort regardless.

“It only happens on occasion. I live with two other friends, I invite her around with her friend Anya,” the audience cheered in recognition, “for dinner quite frequently.” She took a steadying breath, “Anyway, I’m here to talk about the show, I got a little side-tracked. I’m sorry.”

_ Got him. _

She had backed Bellamy into a corner. Either he could accept her apology and ask her something more on topic, or he could brush it aside and admit he had more interest in her personal matters.

This time it was his smile that was thin, “No problem. So your character Emily…”

She sighed in relief and relaxed back into the chair.

The rest of the questions were pretty standard, easy to answer and he even asked for one of her standard pre-prepared funny stories she always had for interviews.

“That’s all we have time for with you tonight Clarke, but I believe you have some exciting news?”

Clarke grinned, genuinely happy for the first time since starting the interview, “I start shooting a movie in a few days time. It’s an action, directed by Dante Wallace and starring Roan Azgeda, Cage Wallace and my close friend Lexa Woods.”

With the announcement out of the way, Bellamy brought the interview to a close. Once backstage, she let herself breathe properly after shaking with nerves for the past twenty minutes, and realised her phone was ringing.

“Lexa?”

“Hey, you did great.” Lexa’s voice worked wonders, and she felt all the tension seep out of her body, “Not sure I like Bellamy Blake though.”

Clarke grinned, “I’m not sure you’d get along…”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1000+ notes??? That made my holiday tbh.  
> Here's an extra long chapter because apparently I can't stick to a consistent chapter length and also I loved writing this chapter and didn't want to stop.  
> Next update should be in a week or so. I'm back at Uni now and my exams are fast approaching, so please be gentle if I'm not as quick as I was with updating - I have a lot of work to do and unfortunately chemistry isn't closely related to creative writing.  
> Thank you so much for all the kudos and comments and messages on tumblr, they make my day.  
> Again, come speak to me on tumblr at HoodieHeda - I love talking about this fic and ways to improve it.  
> (I should note that I actually adored Bellamy in season 2, but season 3 left me unable to write him nicely without it being tainted. I have things planned for him though, he's not all bad)


	7. The Break Room (and all that happens inside)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They start filming their movie. Roan and Lexa are The Ultimate Bro's, Cage Wallace is The Ultimate Douchebag, and Clarke is just watching it all unfold. Also Octavia and Niylah make an appearance.

“Lexa! Wake the fuck up!”

Lexa turned over in her bed, tangling herself more thoroughly in her sheets.

_ Why do I live with Anya again? _

“Lexa I will drag your scrawny ass out of that bed-“

“Okay, okay I’m up.”

She wasn’t.

Lexa threw her arm over her eyes and sighed. Turning her head, she spotted the clock on her side cabinet and groaned.

_ 7 am on December 2 _ _ nd _ _ 2015… I can’t be late to set on the first day. _

Lexa rolled sideways and slumped out of bed, “I need coffee. Also my ass is not scrawny, ask any of my twitter followers.”

Anya snorted, “Yeah, cos they’re not biased. I could ask Clarke, she stares at it enough to form a solid, researched opinion.” Lexa rolled her eyes but was well aware of the pleased warmth that spread in her chest, “But seriously, get up. I’ve worked with Dante Wallace before. Nice enough guy, very Old Hollywood, hates tardiness.”

Lexa opened the door to fix Anya with a tired stare, “I’m up.”

Anya grinned and made her way into the kitchen to fix some coffee for them both. Lexa dressed herself and brushed her teeth before joining her in the kitchen, perching herself on the counter.

Anya eyed her, “Why are you so tired anyway? You’ve been up earlier for projects. Good luck getting up when you’re on location for the next 3 months.”

Lexa frowned and sipped her coffee, “I’m not sure I’ve recovered from the wrap party.”

“Come on, that was like a week ago. Losing your touch?”

Lexa grimaced, “I drank  _ so much _ Anya, like, I cough and can still taste tequila in the back of my throat.” Anya pulled a face. “Not to mention my… behaviour.”

Suddenly, Anya was grinning, “Did you finally remember? Clarke hasn’t told Raven anything, just blushes whenever it’s brought up.”

Lexa mumbles something against her mug of coffee, scarlet to the tips of her ears.

Anya takes her drink off her and puts it down next to her on the counter, “Use your words. Now spill.”

Lexa snatches her coffee back but repeats herself, “I- I think I may have danced with Clarke-“

“That’s hardly embarrassing Lex-“

“-to the song Pony? It’s all a bit blurry – shut up Anya – and I think I spent most of the night attached to Clarke’s side.”

Anya clapped her on the shoulder, “You’ve always been a clingy drunk Woods. So did she?”

Lexa downed her coffee and slid off the counter, going to make some toast before leaving, “Did she what?”

Anya smirked, “Ride your Pony?”

Lexa turned back to her, an expression of pure disgust written all over her face, “That is – without doubt – the worst thing you’ve ever said to me.”

Anya laughed gleefully as Lexa returned to placing bread into the toaster.

* * *

 

Lexa hated Cage Wallace.

It wasn’t that he was playing Clarke’s love interest; she was on good terms with Finn Collins and was moderately fond of the man.

No, it wasn’t that she had to watch Cage kiss Clarke repeatedly for the movie, though it did send an uncomfortable roll through her stomach.

It was how Cage treated Clarke off camera that made Lexa’s fingers itch to wrap tightly around his throat and  _ squeeze _ until his face turned white and-

“Lexa? You good?”

She blinked from staring daggers at Cage to find Roan stood next to her, a concerned expression on his face.

She forced a smile, “Sure, sorry.”

Roan didn’t look convinced but didn’t push either, and Lexa was grateful that he wasn’t like Cage Wallace.

No.

Roan never ordered her to get him a drink when he himself was 5 feet away from craft services.

Roan never blamed her and demeaned her mercilessly when a take went wrong, despite it being him who messed up in the first place.

Roan never threatened to get her fired when she argued with him over something.

Roan never leered obviously and relentlessly at her chest until she became so uncomfortable she had to leave the cast lunch.

Roan wasn’t a Grade A misogynist.

Of course, Roan wasn’t Cage Wallace.

Cage Wallace got away with this only because his father was the director and Clarke was insistent she could handle it. And she could, Lexa knew, because Clarke gave as good as she got and so far his orders for a drink had ended up with a cup of water thrown in his face, a petulant middle finger at his insults, and a bored eye-roll at his threats.

Still.

Lexa could see it was taking a toll on Clarke, only 2 weeks into their shoot and she was clearly exhausted.

Thankfully, Clarke was off with her personal trainer and the stunt coordinator Octavia Blake for the morning, and so Cage was left with no one to order around apart from the poor, harried PA’s. He had a history of this kind of behaviour, but it was only known to people in the industry - he held the media in his back pocket and as far as the rest of the world was concerned he was a golden boy of Hollywood.

He’d tried it with Lexa once, but she hadn’t reacted enough to give him any enjoyment. At least, that’s why she thinks he mainly targets Clarke.

Clarke Griffin was a bit of a hot-head when it comes to bigots, apparently, and so her reactions only seem to spur him on.

Roan nudged her again, “We’re shooting more in the forest later, hope you’ve been working out because it’s even more humid today.”

Lexa grinned, _“You’re_ worried about _me?_ _You?_ The canadian accustomed to the cold? And it’s not me you need to worry about, Clarke _hates_ exercise. We might have to carry her.”

“Carry who?”

_ Fucking terrific. _

She closed her eyes briefly and turned to find Cage stood behind her and Roan, smarmy grin firmly on his face. He had clearly grown bored of insulting  _ ‘the staff’ _ and made his way across the aircraft hangar to talk.

Roan stared at him blankly, “Clarke. We were just talking about how humid it is out there.”

Cage smirked, “I’m surprised Princess even took this job in the first place. The weather can’t agree with her perfectly styled hair.”

Cage looked at Lexa carefully for a reaction, and she knew he’d figured out how to get to her.

_ It was only a matter of time. _

Thankfully, Roan jumped in before Lexa could respond, “I don’t know, Clarke wasn’t the one shrieking when it rained yesterday. That would be you, Cage.”

_ If I were to ever love a man, Roan would be high on the list. _

Cage had turned red, and while Roan kept a mostly straight face, his lips were twitching up at the corners where Lexa would see him concealing a laugh.

“Where is she anyway?”

Lexa rolled her eyes, “If you bothered to read the schedule you’d know she’s in stunt training right now.”

Cage smiled, and Lexa’s stomach dropped, “Stunt training, with Octavia Blake and… Niylah Hunter? I wouldn’t expect them back for a while then.”

He laughed and Lexa frowned in confusion, glancing over at Roan who was now looking uncomfortably at the crew rushing around the hangar.

“I’m not sure I know what you mean.”

Cage grinned, a glint in his eye, “Come  _ on,  _ Niylah Hunter and Clarke Griffin? Rumour has it they did more than train together.”

_ Oh. _

Lexa felt sick, and she knew Cage would see the way her face had fallen but she couldn’t quite help it.

“How did you not  _ hear _ about this? It was all over the internet.”

Her heart was thudding in her chest and she  _ knew- _ she knew she shouldn’t assume anything was going on between them now but it didn’t stop the ache between her ribs or the stinging behind her eyelids. Roan shuffled closer to her, putting a big hand at the small of her back and guiding her to one of the break-rooms, muttering a goodbye to a gleeful Cage.

_ It was just a practice kiss; get it together Lexa. It meant nothing. _

She vaguely registered Roan closing the door behind her and turned around to see him patting the seat next to him on the couch.

“So, how long have you been in love with Clarke Griffin?”

* * *

 

Octavia drove the jeep like she was in a rally car, and Clarke clung for dear life to the door handle. Octavia flung the car around another bend and she shrieked, only to hear Octavia and Niylah’s manic laughter in response.

The roof was off the jeep, and Clarke had been enjoying the gentle breeze through her hair until Octavia decided to race the clock back to the hangar.

“O if you kill us I  _ swear-“ _

Octavia cackled and pressed the accelerator harder, leaving Clarke to shut her eyes and repeat Niylah’s earlier words like a prayer,  _ ‘Octavia is a professional stunt driver; we’re in good hands.’ _

She kept her eyes clamped tightly closed and before she knew it they were pulling into the hangar with a “whoop!” from Octavia and a louder than intended sigh of relief from Niylah.

Niylah Hunter.

Things between them hadn’t ended on bad terms exactly, for that to happen, there would have had to be a thing between them in the first place.

Yes, they had a frankly  _ embarrassing  _ amount of sex together, but Niylah was a ripped personal trainer and Clarke was… Clarke. It was only natural.

In the end, Niylah had wanted commitment, and while she didn’t want to date Clarke she couldn’t date anyone else while carrying on with their arrangement, and so they stopped.

Clarke thinks they’ve actually learned more about each other in the past month than they did in the entire time they were sleeping together, and has found they actually get along fully clothed.

So that’s nice.

She became fast friends with Octavia, despite her dislike of her brother, and Octavia seems equally fond of Clarke.

Octavia was reckless and funny, and fiercely protective of her, and Clarke thought that if Lexa ever stopped  _ very obviously _ shielding her from Cage every opportunity she got, Octavia would gladly fill the position.

Lexa’s behaviour was so blatant that Clarke thought she would be annoyed by it if she didn’t find her clenched jaw and furrowed brows so  _ cute. _

She jumped down from the jeep, automatically scanning the hangar for Lexa and earning a teasing nudge from Octavia, “Looking for your girlfriend?”

Clarke shoved at her but she dodged and slung an arm around Clarke’s shoulder, quickly copied by Niylah on Clarke’s other side, “She’s not my girlfriend.”

Niylah bumped their hips and grinned, “Yet you knew exactly who she was talking about. Interesting.”

“I hate you both.”

Octavia pressed a sloppy kiss to her cheek, “You  _ love _ us. Not like you  _ love _ Lexa but the point stands.”

Clarke remained sandwiched between the laughing women until they came to an abrupt stop as Cage approached them.

“Griffin, thought you should know,”  _ What has he done now? _ “Lexa and Roan disappeared into one of the break rooms a while ago…”

He was clearly digging for a reaction from her, and this time it was easy to ignore him. The only reaction she was in danger of giving was a laugh, considering how rampantly gay she knew Lexa was.

She stepped forward, “Did it occur to you that they needed a break? You know, in the break room?”

Cage shrugged, “She seemed… upset. I was only talking about Niylah,”

Clarke felt the woman tense next to her and saw Octavia’s fists clench. She knew exactly why the idea of Lexa being upset over her and Niylah made her panic, and she had a creeping feeling that Cage knew as well.

“Which break room?”

Cage grinned, “Let me show you.”

* * *

 

Lexa blinked.

Roan chuckled, “You’re a very talented actress, Lexa, but you have an awful poker face. You look at Clarke like you’re seconds away from proposing to her.”

Lexa groaned, refusing to meet his eyes. Roan shuffled on the couch and placed an awkward hand on her shoulder, and his restrained attempt at comfort made her smile a little.

“I was… a fan of her before we worked together, but the moment we met I was almost instantly comfortable around her. You’ve met Clarke, I’ve seen fans fall in love with her in two minutes right in front of my eyes.”

Roan tilted his head in agreement but let her keep talking, just listening silently.

“She’s- she’s like magic, and she’s sweet, and caring, and we kissed off screen but I’m not sure what it meant to her and…” she trailed off.

Roan cleared his throat, “Lexa, I don’t know if you’ve considered this, but have you actually talked to her about this?”

Lexa rolled her eyes towards him, finding him chuckling silently at her, “You’re a dick, you know that?”

Roan grinned, “Absolutely.”

Lexa was considering the merits of taking a nap before shooting started to sleep the past ten minutes off, when Clarke burst into the room, frantic. Her eyes landed on Lexa and scanned her. Cage was leaning against the doorframe, watching it all unfold, and as Roan stood up to leave the room he made sure to knock Cage’s shoulder roughly with his own.

“Clarke?” Lexa stood up and approached her in concern, “Everything okay?”

Clarke squinted, “You’re asking  _ me _ that? I… I heard you were upset.”

Lexa swallowed around the lump in her throat and glanced at Cage, “I- I wasn’t feeling too well. Roan brought me back here to sit down.”

Cage snorted and Clarke scowled, “Sorry, is there a reason you’re still here?”

He pushed into the room, glancing between the two women, “Just, wondering how many of your co-workers you’re planning on making your way through.”

Clarke blinked and turned to face him more fully, “Excuse me?”

Lexa made her way to stand just slightly in front of Clarke, missing her eye-roll, “I think maybe you should leave, Cage.”

“I just wanted to know if Princess would be extending her services to me anytime soon-“

Lexa punched him square in the face, sending him toppling to the ground and landing slumped against the bottom of the wall. She followed him down, lifting him up by his collar and eyeing his now crooked nose with satisfaction.

He didn’t seem to value his life, however, because he kept talking,  _ “Finally. _ You won’t stand up for yourself but you’ll do anything for your little girlfriend over there.” He sniffed in an attempt to stem the blood flowing from his nose, “I’m interested to see what my father says about this broken nose-”

Lexa pushed him further into the wall, watching with satisfaction as he winced. Clarke put a gentle hand on her shoulder, “That’s enough, Lex. It’s gone too far already.”

Roan had re-entered the room when he heard the commotion, and joined Clarke next to Lexa, “Come on, pretty boy has had enough,” he was gruff but his voice held a hint of a smile, “I’ve been itching to do that since day one.”

Lexa caught Clarke shoot him a warning look out the corner of her eye, and dropped Cage’s collar. He immediately stumbled back to his feet, hand held to his nose. He was about to open his mouth again when Roan clapped a heavy hand on the back of his neck and escorted him out of the room.

Lexa looked at Clarke a little sheepishly, “I’m sorry?”

Clarke rolled her eyes, “Was that a question?”

Lexa avoided her eyes, “I may have… overreacted. Maybe.”

_ She’s mad. Shit. _

Only this time Clarke let herself smile a little, “Mhmm, maybe.” Clarke had stepped closer, and Lexa could smell her shampoo and bodywash and a little bit of sweat from training and she was  _ floating _ . “Lexa. Look at me.”

Lexa looked up to meet Clarke’s eyes to find them dark and heavy lidded.

“What-”

She was met with a hard kiss, Clarke’s arms sliding up and around her shoulders to pull her closer. She felt herself being pulled forwards, and followed until she collided heavily against Clarke’s front, pinning her to the wall.

Lexa gasped at the collision and Clarke took the opportunity to slide her tongue across Lexa’s bottom lip and into her mouth, swallowing the moan she elicited.

Lexa felt dizzy, and vaguely registered that she should probably take a breath at some point. She pulled away briefly, inhaling sharply before Clarke grinned at her and pulled her back in, a faint whine crawling up Lexa’s throat as Clarke sucked on her tongue.

Lexa moved her hands from where they had been caged around Clarke and gripped tightly to her hips, pulling them towards her own and arching Clarke backwards slightly. She dug her fingers into Clarke’s hipbones a little harder and was rewarded when Clarke groaned hotly into her mouth. Suddenly, she was being flipped back against the wall, and Clarke moved to her jaw, sucking and nipping and-

_ I might actually die. Clarke is going to kill me. _

“Clarke-” Clarke hummed against the spot under her ear, “-maybe we should-  _ oh fuck-” _

Clarke had move to nip at her earlobe, tugging at it and Lexa felt light-headed and floaty and barely conscious. One hand moved from Clarke’s hips up her body, tripping over her ribs and trailing over her shoulder to slip into her hair and  _ pull. _

Clarke moaned roughly against her cheek, her hips jolting forwards and into Lexa’s in reflex before she pressed a deep kiss on her lips. Clarke pulled back to breathe, “I’d say I’m sorry but,” she was still panting against Lexa’s lips, murmuring her words so closely their lips brushed with every movement, “I’m really,  _ really _ not.”

Lexa was delighted to hear the little happy sigh Clarke released as she kissed down her neck, licking at her pulse point and pressing hard, wet kisses there. Lexa closed her eyes, letting the taste of Clarke’s skin and the feel of her muscles jumping under her lips wash over her. She indulged herself in a few more kisses before returning to Clarke’s mouth, sealing their lips together again. It was softer now, and while their bodies stayed pressed tightly together, hips tucked against each other, their mouths were gentle.

Lexa hummed as she pulled back, her bottom lip trapped between Clarke’s teeth with a last cheeky kiss, “As I was  _ saying, _ before I was interrupted-”

Clarke pecked her on the lips again, grin firmly on her face, “You  _ liked  _ the interruption.”

Lexa let her head fall back against the wall behind her, smiling, “Maybe.”

Clarke shuffled forwards, resting her head on Lexa’s shoulder and brushing barely-there kisses to the crook of her neck. Lexa relaxed into it, trying to get a hold on her emotions before she did something embarrassing.

Like cry.

_ I swear if I cry I’m never forgiving myself. _

“I, uh-” She reluctantly removed her hand from Clarke’s waist to run it anxiously through her own hair, “I’d like to take you on a date.”

Clarke hummed against her, closing her eyes as Lexa rubbed soothing circles over her spine, “I’d like that.”

Lexa blinked, surprised by her response despite having spent the past few minutes with Clarke kissing her heatedly, “So you- you have feelings for me?”

Clarke smiled, endeared, “I don’t normally kiss my platonic friends like that, Lexa.”

Lexa ducked her head, hiding her face in Clarke’s hair, “Right, right of course. I was just - you know - checking.”

“God, you’re cute.” A pause, Lexa felt Clarke tilt her head to look at her, “Your ears are red.”

“You’re embarrassing me.”

“Get used to it.”

* * *

 

Lexa and Clarke had returned to the main hangar separately. Clarke murmured a quick goodbye to her as she made her way over to Octavia, and Lexa immediately sought out Roan.

He gave her a nod in greeting, the hint of a smirk on his lips, “How’s your hand? Griffin kiss it better for you?”

Clarke actually had kissed it better, brushing her lips gently across Lexa’s bruised knuckles before they left the break room.

But Roan didn’t need to know that, so she rolled her eyes instead, “Where’s Cage?”

At this, Roan laughed lowly, “First aid tent. You didn’t break his nose, but pretty boy ain’t so pretty right now.”

Lexa winced, only now realising the effect her actions could have.

_ He could ruin my career. _

“Any chance he said it’s all forgotten?”

Roan raised an eyebrow, “Surprisingly, no. He’s a prick though, I have a feeling this may have made you more popular with people in the industry. The media is another matter, but that’s what you have PR for.”

_ Shit. Titus is going to have my head. _

She cringed and excused herself to a laughing Roan, retreating to a corner of the hangar and taking out her phone.

“Lexa?”

“Titus. I… may have done something. Things. I’ve done things.”

She could practically  _ hear _ him suppress a groan.

“Please elaborate. The scenarios playing through my head right now are not promising.”

Lexa paused before taking a deep breath, “I punched Cage Wallace in the face and I’m going on a date with Clarke.”

There was only silence on the other end, and for a moment Lexa feared she’d done it; she’d inadvertently killed Titus.

_ I hope Clarke bails me out of prison, I’m not made for a life in lock-up. _

“Lexa, I’ve given up trying to interfere with your personal life, I hope you have enough sense to deal with the Clarke situation carefully. Cage Wallace, however, is someone I can absolutely handle.”

Lexa breathed a sigh of relief, “Thank you Titus. For what it’s worth, his nose isn’t broken.”

“Oh, terrific. That changes everything.”

“Was that sarcasm?”

“Of course it was sarcasm; you still punched him. Dare I ask why?”

Lexa felt her face warm, “He was being disrespectful. To Clarke.”

Titus let out a long-suffering sigh, “My job became infinitely harder the day you met Clarke Griffin. I will deal with it. Try not to make a habit out of punching co-stars.”

With that he hung up, and Lexa let herself smile a little.

She could see Clarke across the room, chatting to Octavia and Niylah again, and thought back to their earlier conversation before they left the break room.

* * *

 

_ Lexa pulled back, red still dusted across the line of her cheekbones, “Are we telling people?” _

_ Clarke bit her lip in contemplation and Lexa had to press her head further into the wall to stop herself from capturing it between her teeth, “I’d rather keep it between us for now, not tell the public. I love them but they can be…” _

_ Lexa gave her a lopsided grin, “Intense?” _

_ Clarke rested her forehead against Lexa’s, “Sure. I mean, we can tell friends and family; Raven would kill me if she found out I kept this a secret. Is that okay?” _

_ “As long as I can tell Anya, if she doesn’t find out from Raven first anyway.” _

_ They stood in silence for a little while longer, eyes closed and swaying a little. _

_ “What about Niylah?” _

_ “The cast can know, we just need to keep it from Cage and people we don’t trust.” _

_ Lexa’s brow furrowed, “No, I mean, what is she to you?” _

_ Clarke hugged her closer, “Now? A friend. That’s all.” _

_ Lexa released a breath she didn’t realise she was holding and smiled. _

_ “So about this date.” _

* * *

 

The shoot would soon be breaking for Christmas, and as Lexa made her way over to Clarke she decided she didn’t want to wait longer than necessary to take her out. Their first free day would be in a few days time on the 19th, and Lexa figured then would be as good a time as any.

Octavia was the first to notice her as she approached, Clarke with her back to Lexa and Niylah absently watching the crew prepare the more mobile cameras. The smirk on Octavia’s face gave her away though, and Clarke turned to find her, grabbing Lexa’s hand and dragging her into the group.

Lexa was fond of Octavia, her bravery and friendship with Clarke endearing her somewhat, though the sly look in her eyes made her nervous.

“So I heard you punched Cage.”

Lexa nodded, “You heard correctly.”

There was a pause where Octavia sized her up for a moment, and Lexa felt oddly like she was being tested.

Eventually, Octavia grinned, “Nice one.” She offered her hand for a fist bump and Lexa inadvertently used her still bruised right hand, hissing softly and prompting a worried frown from Clarke.

Octavia turned to Clarke, “I approve. Just so you know.”

Clarke rolled her eyes but smiled, “I don’t know what I would have done without your approval, O.”

“Hey now,” Niylah was looking at them now, “what about my approval?”

Clarke snorted and Niylah put on a face of mock offense. Lexa eyed her carefully; she hadn’t interacted with her much and was unsure of how to speak to her.

Clarke pushed Niylah playfully but shuffled further into Lexa’s side, “Since when have I ever needed your approval for anything?”

Niylah smirked and Clarke cut her off, “ _ Nope,  _ don’t answer that.”

Octavia was sniggering beside them and Lexa felt the angry stirrings of jealousy in her chest. Petty as it may be, she let her arm wrap around Clarke’s waist, her hand settling on a hip and squeezing.

Niylah eyed her movements with an amused smile, and Clarke only sighed and leaned into Lexa. 

She knew there was nothing going on between Clarke and Niylah - she trusted Clarke when she said they were just friends - yet this  _ thing _ between them was new and careful and so,  _ so _ fragile and she didn’t want anything to threaten it. 

_ Not when so much could go wrong. _

So she kept her arm tight around Clarke, fingers gripping her hipbone and keeping her close.

Though apparently she needn’t have bothered with the showy act of possessiveness, considering the next thing out of Octavia’s mouth was, “Holy shit Clarke, is that a hickey? It’s fucking huge.” She looked at Lexa, “I take it back, I can’t let her date a vampire.”

Clarke slapped her hand to her neck and winced as she prodded at her pulse point. 

She squinted at Lexa, “You didn’t think to warn me?”

Lexa did her best to seem apologetic, though her casual shrug may not have worked as she wished, “I didn’t notice-”

Octavia laughed, “Didn’t notice? It’s the size of my fucking hand!”

“Your hair must have been covering it earlier. Makeup will fix it.”

Clarke nudged her playfully, “They’ll need to. I’ll get revenge though, mark my words.”

Lexa didn’t think revenge had ever sounded so sweet.

* * *

 

The next day, Lexa woke up in her hotel room to multiple missed calls from Titus, worried texts from Clarke and multiple voicemails from both Anya and Costia. She groaned and listened to the message Titus had left,

 

**Voicemail at 3:17 am:** Lexa, it appears Cage Wallace has more sway than I had originally thought in the media. He was intent on spreading the story and the best I could do was getting him to leave Clarke’s name out of it. Unfortunately, Nia Winters offered him a high price for the story and has since gone public with the information. I sincerely apologise, but there was nothing to be done.

 

Lexa’s heart was hammering as she opened twitter on her phone, immediately finding multiple news sites in her mentions and already fans defending her. She read the story, finding it mainly full of conjecture with very few facts.

In fact, it seemed to imply it was a romantically motivated altercation - something that panicked Lexa briefly before she realised they were assuming that herself and Cage were romantically involved. Feeling that it could have gone worse, she exited the article a little calmer before noticing a tweet from Clarke,

 

**@theRealGriffC:** She’s got a mean right hook but you don’t know the full story #LexaDeservesBetter than all this bad press @LexW00ds  pic.twitter.com/hFAEOI9Ji2 #NapTimeForTheCommander

 

Lexa snorted as she opened the picture to see herself and Roan in full battle armour and war-paint. They were stretched out across the sofa in the break room together, both fast asleep as far as she could tell.

 

**@LexW00ds:** @theRealGriffC creeper, why do I let you hang out with me?

 

**@theRealGriffC:** @LexW00ds my dazzling good-looks, obviously #BetterTogether #HotterTogether

 

Lexa rolled her eyes and retweeted the response before remembering to text Clarke back. The first texts were predictably angry; long rants about Cage flowing into more concerned texts for her, ending with  _ “If you need anything, just ask me.” _

She bit her lip to contain the automatic smile in response to Clarke’s care for her, and resolved to take Clarke on that date as soon as possible.

She rolled over to check the time and realised she’d be expected on set soon. 

With Cage Wallace.

_ Well, shit. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed this, it was fun to write!  
> As always, head on over to my tumblr HoodieHeda to chat or leave a comment here if you feel inspired.  
> I also wrote a Clexa Teacher AU yesterday, so take a look if you want to.  
> Not sure how long next chapter will take - I have a frankly terrifying list of things in my planning document to happen in it and I'm but a busy Uni student, so if it goes over a weeks wait please be nice.


	8. The First Date (step aside Casanova)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cage gets put in his place, Clarke and Lexa finally go on a date, and Clarke finds out just how deep she is for Lexa. The other Griffin's also make a brief appearance, as do a couple of other fan favourite characters.

The mood on set was, well,  _ frosty. _

Dante Wallace had been nothing short of infuriated at Lexa after the incident, and made it clear that just because she was the lead, it didn’t mean she couldn’t be replaced. Clarke herself wasn’t present for the meeting, but Cage had been, and he had sat in the corner nursing his bruised nose and gloating.

Clarke had always thought Dante was a decent man, but she guesses people change when their family are involved, when their  _ people _ are involved. It’s why she was so outspoken on twitter immediately after the news broke.

Clarke herself was the happiest she’d been since they had started shooting, yet it seems with the progression of their relationship, Lexa only became more…  _ defensive. _

_ An understatement, to be honest. _

The day after the incident, Lexa had arrived on set as usual and acted with nothing but cold disregard towards Cage, despite his attempts to goad her further. The only difference to their routine being that instead of stopping by Clarke’s trailer for coffee and a chat, she stopped by for coffee and a cheeky kiss before filming.

Lexa had even stopped acting so possessive around Niylah, though it took some gentle persuasion -  _ “Lexa I swear if you don’t stop putting your arm around me like a dog pissing on a lamppost when Niylah is around, I’m not kissing you for a month”  _ \- on Clarke’s part.

The media storm surrounding the incident had not let up either, and Clarke was worried about how the bad press was affecting Lexa; up until this point, Lexa was the sweet, quiet newcomer to Hollywood, and then she punched Hollywood’s golden boy in the face and everything changed.

_ Speak of the devil… _

“Griffin!”

Clarke suppressed her groan and turned around, finding Cage striding across the set towards her.

It was just the two of them on set that day - along with some extras, of course - as Lexa and Roan were off somewhere else, shooting their side of the narrative.

Which left Clarke to deal with Cage largely by herself.

Considering Lexa had damn near broken his nose a few days earlier, she elected to remain professional.

_ One of us has to. _

She forced a smile onto her face, “Cage. Something you need?”

He grinned, and Clarke absently wondered what kind of makeup they had used to hide the extensive bruising across his face.

The reminder of his bruises cheered her somewhat.

“Ready for our  _ love scene _ later?”

Clarke was proud of suppressing the instinctual gag so successfully.

She sighed and started over towards the coffee machine, “It’s hardly a love scene, Cage. It’s a kiss, and believe me I’ll have kissed my grandmother more passionately.”

He scoffed and followed after her, “You’re telling me you’re not attracted to me? You’d do well to be with someone like me, clean up your image a little.”

_ Stay professional, stay professional, stay professional- _

Clarke gripped her coffee, “I appreciate the offer, but my image is just fine.”

She made to leave, electing to just retreat to her trailer until it was time to shoot, but Cage had other ideas, stepping in her way and into her personal space, “Mmm, I’m not so sure it is. Sleeping around is to be expected, for someone of your… preference. I just think you should be considering something more serious.”

Clarke could feel rage burning in her chest but merely took a deep breath and pushed past him, letting her shoulder knock his roughly as she did so.

“I’d be careful touching me like that. Lexa isn’t around to protect you from the consequences.”

_ Fuck professionalism. _

She swung back around to face him with what she suspected was a manic grin on her face, “That’s funny, I didn’t realise I needed Lexa to take care of me at all. In fact,” she stepped a little closer, “I wonder what will happen when not one, but two of the other lead actors on this movie say that  _ you _ were the one who instigated it. In fact,  _ you _ were the one treating everyone like dirt for weeks. I know Roan is just itching to say something, and believe me, I won’t hesitate.”

Cage had finally gone silent, his mouth caught in a snarl and his jaw jumping. 

She looked at him blankly, “Go after Lexa again, and you’re done. I don’t give a shit if your daddy is in charge here, even he won’t be able to protect you from  _ me.” _

She turned on her heel and walked away as quickly as she could without running, pulling out her phone to call Wells.

“Two calls in a few days, Clarke? Your street fighter girlfriend is a bad influence, what have you done this time?” Wells was cheerful, as usual.

Clarke rolled her eyes despite knowing he couldn’t see it, “She’s not my girlf- you know what, I’m not going to get into that-”

“Yet. She’s not your girlfriend  _ yet.  _ You’ve got a date in a few days, just turn on the charm.”

Clarke laughed, “I’ll try my very best. Anyway, I thought you should know, I just threatened Cage Wallace’s career.”

There was a snort on the other end of the line and then a loud, gleeful laugh, “Of course you did! You make my work harder Clarke but I’m always entertained. I’ll keep an eye out for you.”

“Later Wells.”

“Have fun on your  _ date-” _

_ “Goodbye Wells.” _

* * *

 

“Raven! Do you remember if I left my nice jacket at the apartment?” Clarke shouted from inside her walk-in closet.

She was still coming to terms with having a walk-in closet.

When there was no response, Clarke left the closet to find Raven sprawled across her bed.

“Raven!”

Raven groaned and looked up at her, “We’ve been here for an hour, Griff. Lexa would find you hot if you were covered in filth and hadn’t washed for 3 months.” She pushed up onto her elbows and fixed Clarke with a stare, “Also - don’t know if you know this - but you’re loaded, you have like twenty  _ nice jackets.” _

Clarke huffed.

So-called best friends.

“Well excuse me for wanting to look  _ nice  _ for her! She’s going to be all suave and cool and I’m going to be the idiot she made the mistake of asking out on a date, the least I can do is  _ look _ the part.” 

She stomped back into her closet, pulling on a cute light blue shirt and then her light grey skinny jeans. As she was wiggling the jeans over her hips, she heard Raven sigh and approach the closet.

“Clarke.”

“Yes, Raven.”

Raven leaned against the doorframe, “You look gorgeous, as always. And not once have I seen Lexa act anything but stuttering and smitten around you.” That drew a smile from Clarke, and Raven walked closer still, “She’s going to pick you up and take you out, and you’re both going to be gross and obnoxiously into each other because you don’t know how else to behave.”

Clarke blushed lightly but hugged Raven, “Thanks Rae.”

“No problem,” Raven moved back from the embrace, “But I wasn’t done. She’s then going to take you back to her apartment and let you bend her-”

“ _ Raven.” _ Clarke scolded through her laughter, “What is it with your fixation on me bending her over anyway?”

Raven winked at her, “Hey, I’m a single gal with a hot best friend, gotta entertain myself somehow.” Raven waggled her eyebrows and Clarke made a disgusted noise, slapping at her arm.

“You’re gross.”

“I know.”

“Truly the worst.”

“Love you too.”

* * *

 

Raven had been banished back to her guest house by the time their was a knock on the door, and so no-one witnessed Clarke’s brief moment of jitters before she opened the door to Lexa.

Lexa, who was in dark jeans and a soft white t-shirt with her hair tumbling across her shoulder and  _ wow. _

Lexa, who was fiddling with a pretty bouquet of flowers in her hands.

Lexa who was looking at the ground in… guilt?

Clarke noticed the nerves and reached forwards, grasping one of Lexa’s hands with her own, “Hey.”

Lexa looked up at her properly for the first time and her jaw went a little slack. Clarke smiled as Lexa turned a little red, watched as she scanned Clarke up and down before looking away again and mumbling a “hey” in response.

Clarke frowned, “Are you okay?” Lexa looked guiltier by the second, Clarke noted, and her stomach dropped, “Do you- is this… Do you not want to go on a date anymore? It’s okay if you don’t I just-”

“No! I mean, yes?” Lexa stammered and panicked at the poorly hidden crestfallen expression on Clarke’s face, “Shit! I’m fucking this up, I’m sorry. I want to date you, still.”

Clarke breathed a small sigh of relief, “Are you okay?”

Lexa bit her lip and looked up at her through long lashes, and Clarke’s stomach swooped, “I hate to ask this but, can we postpone? It’s just I used to volunteer a lot for an underprivileged kids theatre group, and since my career took off I’ve barely been in. They rang up earlier to ask if I’d come along and I didn’t have the heart to say no.”

Clarke was pretty sure she was falling in love.

She stared with disbelief at Lexa, who was still looking at her as if Clarke was going to slam the door in her face.

Clarke leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to her lips, gently pushing against her until Clarke was smiling too widely to continue.

They broke apart and Lexa had a somewhat dumbstruck expression on her face, “I’m… I’m pretty sure I’m supposed to kiss you on your doorstep  _ after _ the date.”

Clarke grinned, “So we’re fast-tracking.” 

Lexa gazed at her for another moment and then blinked half a dozen times, “Shit, I forgot.” She thrust out the now slightly crushed flowers towards Clarke, frowning when she noticed their crumpled state, “I- they looked good when I bought them, they just got crushed a bit because I was nervous and you kissed me and they were between us and-” Her shoulders fell in defeat, “I’m already the worst date ever and we haven’t even been on a date yet. I’m sorry.”

Clarke’s heart was stuttering in her chest and she was smiling so hard her cheeks hurt.

_ So much for suave and smooth. Raven is going to be so smug. _

She reached a hand out for the flowers and gently brushed over the petals, sniffing at them and smiling at Lexa as she did so.

At least until her nose itched and she sneezed.

Several times.

Lexa looked to the skies, “And now I give you allergy inducing flowers. Perfect. All I need to do now is hold your hand and accidentally walk you into traffic.”

Clarke couldn’t hold back a giggle and Lexa was blushing furiously by this point, muttering lowly about the “trainwreck of a date” and how she was a “complete human disaster”.

Clarke smoothed a hand over Lexa’s forearm, squeezing lightly, “You’re perfect. Seriously, this is the best date I’ve been on and we haven’t left my doorstep.”

Lexa looked somewhat placated, but the frown didn’t leave her face, “You must have the worst taste in dates… It explains why I’m here though.”

Clarke rolled her eyes, “Stop it, you’re amazing. And I don’t think we need to postpone.”

Clarke gestured for her to follow as she re-entered the house, boots echoing on the wooden floor as she walked towards the kitchen to find a vase for the flowers.

“What do you mean?” Lexa sounded genuinely confused, and when Clarke turned around she found Lexa’s expression to be like that of a bewildered puppy.

Clarke shook her head, “You’re so cute I can’t stand it sometimes,” She leaned up and kissed Lexa on a blushing cheek, “Take me to your volunteer theatre group. I wouldn’t miss that for the world.”

Lexa stammered briefly but then caught herself, nodding firmly and turning to walk out the house. Clarke was almost certain she was trying to collect herself and so she took her time locking up, turning around to find Lexa smiling shyly at her.

“You look amazing, by the way. I should have said that before, really.” Lexa was looking at her from beneath her lashes again and Clarke knew that if they ever wanted to go on this date, Lexa would need to stop doing that.

Clarke tangled their fingers together and walked towards where Lexa had parked her motorbike, “You look gorgeous as well. Should I have changed for this? We still have time right?”

Lexa looked at her with heated eyes, “Don’t change.”

Clarke glanced down at her chest, the shirt she was wearing felt a little bit low for her to be volunteering with kids, “Are you sure? It’s kind of-” She waved her hand vaguely over her chest.

Lexa swallowed, “Believe me, I noticed.” She looked back up to catch Clarke’s amused stare, “Oh shut up, they’re just  _ there-” _

Clarke choked back laughter, “How eloquent. Now come on and toss me that spare helmet, we’re wasting valuable date time.”

* * *

 

Some of the younger kids cheered with excitement when Lexa walked through the door, and even the older kids with disaffected exteriors seemed genuinely happy to see her. Lexa held the door open for Clarke who stepped through with a smile, and while most of the younger kids didn’t react, quite a few of the older teens’ jaws dropped.

Lexa smiled at her encouragingly as Clarke hovered near the door, “Come on, I’ll introduce you to Gustus.”

Clarke took a deep breath and returned the smile, closing the door gently behind her and following after Lexa. The room had seen better days, with ceiling panels missing and odd stains on the carpet but the walls were covered in art and photos from various productions the kids had done, and Clarke thought Lexa looked more than a little proud as they walked across the room.

There were about thirty kids in total, different ethnicities and ages merging into a group of young people that Clarke was suddenly desperate to impress.

Lexa reached a tall, very broad man on the other side of the room and was swept up in an enthusiastic hug. She was laughing and Clarke couldn’t help her smitten smile in response.

The man put Lexa down with a gruff chuckle, and Lexa turned to her, “Clarke, this is Gustus. He runs this community centre.”

Clarke stepped forward with a polite hand outstretched, something that was quickly bypassed in favour of a tight hug of her own.

Gustus squeezed her before releasing her, “So you’re the one who stole my Lexa for your show?”

Clarke stammered a little - unsure of how to respond - but Lexa laughed and shoved Gustus a little.

The man chuckled again, “I’ve known Lexa since she was knee-high and terrified of speaking aloud. She’s told me a lot about you, when she remembers to  _ call _ anyway.”

Lexa rolled her eyes but nudged him affectionately, “I haven’t told him  _ a lot-” _

Gustus mimics a higher pitched voice,  _ “Clarke is the best actress I’ve ever seen, and she’s so gorgeous, and lovely, and she’s really funny too-” _

Lexa’s face was a bright red and Clarke bit her lip to contain her laughter.

Lexa recovered enough to speak, “I don’t sound like  _ that,  _ besides, Clarke  _ is _ the best actress I’ve ever seen.”

“Sure is pretty as well.”

“Gus, knock it off.”

Gustus shot Clarke a wink and she doesn’t think she’s ever gone from being intimidated to endeared by a person this quickly. Gustus broke away to talk to the kids and organise some activities while Lexa and Clarke stayed near the wall.

Lexa leaned closer to her, whispering into her ear and Clarke suppresses a shudder -  _ this has to make the list for most inappropriate places I’ve ever been turned on  _ \- tilting her head to listen, “I was raised in care, bounced around a few shitty foster homes before I settled with Marcus, who lives near here. I was only seven and my experience left me pretty shy around other kids, so Marcus brought me here. Gustus kind of became an uncle of sorts, I used to come all the time before I got so busy.” She avoided Clarke’s stare, “It’s uh- it’s why I still live with Anya. We met here when I was younger. She looked out for me, helped me, she’s kind of overprotective still... It’s dumb, I know.”

Clarke frowned and tapped Lexa gently on the chin, “Hey, it’s really sweet.” She gestured around the room, “All of this, it’s  _ amazing  _ Lexa, what you do, what you’re  _ doing _ for these kids.”

Lexa flushed and stared resolutely at Gustus, “Still, hardly the height of romance for a first date. I had it all planned out-”

Clarke jumped in before she could finish her sentence, “Shh, don’t tell me, you’ll need to surprise me on our second date.” She watched with amusement as Lexa’s eyes flicked immediately back to her, hope shining bright in them, “Besides, the run-down building and the faint smell of mould in the air is totally winning me over. Come on, introduce me to the kids, I bet they love you.”

Clarke started walking over, but just managed to catch Lexa’s not-so-subtle fist pump out the corner of her eye.

_ A loser, I’m dating a total loser. _

* * *

 

If you had asked Clarke the day before what her ideal date was, she most certainly wouldn’t have said it would be set in a dilapidated community centre and have her sat on a rubber mat surrounded by children.

_ And yet. _

There was only one person to blame for this sudden change in opinion, and she was sat criss-crossed on the mat to Clarke’s left, laughing indulgently and sharing stories with the kids who stared at her with rapt attention.

Not for the first time on that day, Clarke was struck with a thought.

A scary thought.

_ I could easily fall in love with her. _

Clarke was glad she had the kids around her to distract her, because she needed to process those kinds of thoughts before she did something stupid, like blurt them out to the woman in question.

The woman who had now stood and pulled a young blond boy over from the side of the room, arm slung around him easily.

Lexa smiled as she approached Clarke, “Clarke, this is Aden. He’s a big fan of yours.”

Clark melted as the boy - only about eleven years old at a guess - blushed red up to his blond roots and sent a betrayed look at Lexa, who grinned at Clarke gleefully.

Lexa leaned towards her conspiratorily, “He thinks you’re very pretty,” she stage whispered and then winked, “he has great taste.”

Clarke bit her lip and looked away from Lexa, unused to seeing her this free and comfortable.

It made Clarke want to kiss her.

_ Everything she does makes me want to kiss her. _

Clarke shuffled onto her knees and held her hand out to Aden, “Lovely to meet you Aden, how old are you?”

Aden stared at her in awe for a moment before Lexa nudged him encouragingly. He lifted his chin and shook her hand as firmly as he was able with his smaller hands, and proudly announced, “I’m twelve.”

Lexa smiled proudly, “He’s a very talented actor, he’s been the lead in two productions here already and has been to lots of auditions for big movies already. He was even in a TV show.”

Aden had somewhat calmed down, and was nodding enthusiastically, “Lexa helped me get ready for the auditions, we pretended she was the casting person and it was the real audition. That was  _ ages  _ ago though, I’ve had loads of auditions since then.”

Clarke watched as Lexa frowned a little guiltily, “Sorry I wasn’t around buddy, I finally got some good work. I’ll come more often, I promise.”

Aden smiled up at her and gripped her hand, “It’s okay, I made my family watch your show. They love it… they covered my eyes in some parts though, they said it was rude or something.”

This time it was Clarke’s turn to look a little guilty; some of her scenes with Finn were truly not appropriate for a twelve year old to witness.

Lexa played along, tutting accusingly at Clarke like she had had a say in the matter at all, and Clarke glared playfully back before speaking, “Are you excited for the finale? It airs soon.”

Aden nodded excitedly, “Lexa said it was  _ really _ fun to film it.”

Clarke laughed, “Mhmmm, I bet she did.”

Lexa rolled her eyes in response to Clarke’s teasing look, but turned to Aden, “You want to take a picture with us? Clarke’s great and all but sometimes we need someone more handsome.”

Clarke scoffed but stood and crammed in next to Aden, who was soon sandwiched tightly between the two women as they took the picture.

Soon the rest of the group caught on and Clarke’s camera roll filled up with pictures of them with the kids, one of which was a group photo taken by Gustus. That was the photo she tweeted as they were leaving the centre with hugs and promises to return.

 

**@theRealGriffC:** @LexW00ds knows how to make a gals day off fun! Great day with @TonDC community centre  pic.twitter.com/zDUPOJ2Ji4

 

Lexa raised an eyebrow,  _ “‘Gals day off’?  _ Is that what this is?”

Clarke rolled her eyes, “If I called it a date then a) everyone would think you had no dating game because you took me to a community centre and b) Titus would literally, and I mean  _ literally _ murder me. Does he have a gun? I feel like he probably has a gun.”

Lexa threw her the motorcycle helmet again and laughed, “Come on, he’s gotten better. Besides, I’d protect you from him.”

Clarke tapped her on the side of her helmet, “That doesn’t make me feel better, you’d probably end up getting shot instead. Then who would I have to take me on the world’s most unorthodox dates?”

“You said it was fun!” Lexa protested, straddling the bike, “I can be romantic, I swear.”

Clarke hugged her from behind once she was also settled on the bike, “Sure Romeo. I’m hungry, can we get food?”

Lexa shouted her reply over the revving of the engine coming to life, “Now that is something I  _ can _ do.”

* * *

 

“I can’t believe you took me to a food truck.”

Lexa rolled her eyes and she parked back at Clarke’s house.

“On our first date, a food truck.” Clarke paused and squinted, “In a park in LA in december. It’s like 50°.”

Lexa grimaced and slid off the bike, holding out a hand to help Clarke off.

“You know the worst part? I  _ loved it.” _

Lexa grinned, “What did we say on our first day on set? I have game.”

Clarke threw her head back and laughed loudly, “Babe, I can guarantee that had anyone else taken me to a community centre and then a food truck on our first date, there wouldn’t be a second.” Lexa was used to the teasing and just narrowed her eyes as Clarke continued, “I can only blame it on the company.”

Lexa walked her up to the front door slowly, carefully tangling their fingers together and brushing her thumb gently over the back of Clarke’s hand.

Clarke stopped walking and turned to Lexa, “Teasing aside, I loved today.”

Lexa looked at her timidly, as if she was expecting Clarke to say she hated it, “Really?”

Clarke smiled at her, “Really. It was unique and fun and I got to learn so much about you.”

Lexa flushed and looked at the ground where she was scuffing the toe of her boots into the dirt.

_ God, she’s adorable. _

Clarke raised a hand to Lexa’s chin and tilted her head upwards, “It was really special, and I’m glad you shared it with me.”

Lexa met her gaze, “Well,  _ you’re  _ special and I just wanted- I wanted you to- I’m sorry I don’t know why I can’t talk right now.”

Clarke nudged their noses together, “We don’t have to talk at all.”

Lexa’s response of “Wow Clarke that was cheesy” was mumbled against her lips, and Clarke smiled as she pressed her body into Lexa’s. She sighed against her when Lexa’s arms circled her to settle on her waist and kissed her harder, running her tongue along the seam of Lexa’s lips and swallowing her gasp.

They kissed languidly for another few moments before pulling away, and Lexa sighed seemingly forlornly at the front door stoop, “I didn’t even kiss you goodnight on your doorstep. What kind of date am I?”

Clarke opened her mouth to respond, but was interrupted by a loud,  _ loud  _ voice yelling from the guest house nearby, “The kind that should leave so I can grill Clarke on your  _ date!” _

Lexa sighed and looked over at Raven, who had her entire upper body leaning out the the ground floor window.

She turned back to Clarke, “Why did I think that you moving house would mean we wouldn’t be interrupted?”

Clarke laughed, “Raven could be in another continent and find a way to interrupt. Besides, what kind of things were you imagining would be interrupted?”

Clarke grinned even wider when Lexa avoided her gaze and blushed a deep red.

She decided to take mercy and pulled Lexa into a tight hug, “Thank you for today, I’d love to go along again sometime with you.”

Lexa squeezed her and buried her nose in the crook of her neck, “Thank you for being so understanding, I promise I’ll up the romance next time.”

Clarke pulled back and pretended to swoon, “Impossible, Miss Woods. Now drive safely, I don’t want our second date to be in a hospital room.”

Lexa smiled and pressed a soft kiss to her cheek, lingering there before backing away and giving her a dorky salute, “Yes ma’am.” She paused and looked over to Raven, who looked as though she would explode if she kept her silence for much longer, “Goodnight Raven.”

Raven simply rolled her eyes and disappeared from the window, clearly making her way to the front door to talk to Clarke. Lexa shot Clarke another bright,  _ smitten _ smile and mounted her bike again, speeding out of the gate.

Clarke was still staring after her when Raven bumped her hip with Clarke’s, “So, I saw your tweet…”

Clarke groaned, “It was perfect, shut up.”

Raven cackled, “Your first date, and you’re surrounded by children. I can’t believe you’re  _ this _ into her.”

Clarke rolled her eyes and walked up to her door, a smile tugging at her lips.

_ I really am. _

* * *

 

“Is this too much? It’s too much, I shouldn’t have made you come.” Clarke fretted as they stood in the middle of the large front room. The large front room in the  _ large _ familiar mansion with its fancy gates and lawns and gravel driveways.

Lexa covered Clarke’s hand with hers and rubbed up and down her sweater covered arm, “You didn’t  _ make _ me do anything, you invited me and I accepted because I want to spend time with you.”

It didn’t comfort Clarke, “But it’s my family Lexa, we’ve only been on one date and you’re already meeting the family.”

Lexa pulled her to the side of the room and rested her hands on Clarke’s shoulders, kneading them soothingly, “We’ve been on one date, but I’ve had feelings for you for much longer than that. Do you think I’d wear an ugly Christmas sweater for just anyone?” She grinned as her joke pulled a smile out of Clarke.

It was the 20th of December and they were attending the Griffin Family Christmas Party. The mansion was decked out in holly and tinsel and Christmas lights, and honestly? Clarke was shocked at how well Lexa had assimilated into the group.

Her mother adored her, asking lengthy questions about the youth group, her father loved her and would  _ not _ shut up about her acting abilities, and Clarke’s grandparents and extended family had clearly already planned their lives together.

She was just concerned as to how Lexa was taking it, knowing her family could be a little...

_ Intense. _

Lexa didn’t seem to have the same worries, holding Clarke’s hand easily and laughing and joking with her family, even taking the time to dance with -  _ and thoroughly fluster _ \- Abby.

Clarke took a deep breath and calmed herself, leaning comfortably against Lexa who slid an arm around her back and pulled her sideways into her body. Clarke smiled when she felt the press of Lexa’s lips against her temple, closing her eyes and snuggling closer into her-

Girlfriend? Date? 

Clarke had felt no small amount of stress when first introducing Lexa to her family, instead settling on “date”.

The word felt too temporary for someone who felt so permanent in Clarke’s life.

Lexa seemed to sense her tension and traced shapes on the nape of Clarke’s neck, making goosebumps stand up on her skin. 

“Thank you, Lexa.” Clarke whispered against her, and felt Lexa nudge at her hair.

“You’re important to me, and your family are nice.” Lexa stiffened slightly against her, and Clarke looked up to find Jake gleefully pointing at the mistletoe above them.

Clarke rolled her eyes, “You sure about that?”

Lexa smiled and gave her a simple peck on the lips, brief enough that Clarke was left wondering if it was a hallucination. For his part, Jake shot Lexa a faux disappointed look before finding Abby’s side once more to drag her into a dance.

Lexa had the most adorable crease on her forehead when Clarke looked at her, “I don’t understand your father. Surely he would prefer me to not defile his daughter under the mistletoe in front of him.”

Clarke shrugged and kissed her, properly this time, leaving smears of lipgloss on Lexa’s mouth, “Dad’s weird, but he likes to see me happy. I think he knows you wouldn’t  _ defile _ me unless I specifically asked you to.”

Lexa licked her lips, trying to remove the lipgloss, “My apologies, did you want to be defiled under the mistletoe?”

Clarke laughed and swatted at Lexa’s shoulder, “Maybe later, cuddling will do for now.”

She felt more than she heard Lexa’s chuckle in response and huddled back into her, sighing happily.

Here, surrounded by her family and held in Lexa’s arms, Clarke was the happiest she could ever remember being.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I wrote this chapter with horrendous tendon pain in one arm, I hope you appreciate how I suffered for this disgustingly fluffy chapter (how cute are they though? So cute, ugh)  
> Once again, I hope you enjoyed it, find me at hoodieheda on tumblr to chat, and also for updates on how the fic is going, because if a chapter will be delayed I'll announce it there (increasingly likely considering my frankly terrifying workload!)  
> Thanks for reading, and I can't believe you guys like it so much, it gives me so much happiness you have no idea (and even if I don't respond to all the reviews, I read every single one, trust me)


	9. Livetweet and Chill (The Grounded Finale Experience)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clarke and Lexa livetweet the Grounded finale, people are getting a little suspicious about their relationship and Raven is a fangirl.

Livetweeting wasn’t something that Lexa had thought she’d have to worry about when she signed on to the show. To be honest, she hadn’t anticipated most of what happened since the show came into her life.

Clarke, for example.

She hadn’t anticipated being squished against the side of the sofa as Clarke snuggled back against her to watch the finale.

She certainly hadn’t anticipated the soft, sweet kisses that Clarke seemed to take delight in pressing to the inside of her wrist and against her pulse.

Clarke hummed as she lifted Lexa’s palm to her lips this time, brushing a gentle kiss against it before shifting back further into Lexa’s body. Lexa had lost nearly all feeling in her hand about twenty minutes ago, with her right arm trapped under Clarke’s head as it was, but she swore her skin tingled whenever Clarke touched her like this.

_ I’m so sappy, what happened to me? _

“Babe, when did you even take that picture with my dad?” Clarke’s confused voice shook her out of her train of thought.

“Huh?” Lexa blinked, not realising she’d drifted off into her mind a little.

Clarke laughed lowly, “Sleepy? It’s not even 9pm, you need to livetweet with me.” Lexa grumbled something against the back of Clarke’s neck in response, “And when did you take that picture of you and my dad that you tweeted? I never saw you do it.” Clarke lifted her phone over her shoulder to show Lexa the tweet from a few hours ago,

 

**@LexW00ds:** Had the privilege of meeting this amazing man tonight; terrific actor and an even greater person #GriffinFamilyChristmas  pic.twitter.com/yDAEPK3Ji8

 

The picture had Jake grinning at the camera with a paper party hat crumpled onto his head, his arm slung around a smiling Lexa’s shoulders.

Lexa found she liked Jake Griffin a great deal once she had pushed past the nerves of meeting such a Hollywood legend. He laughed freely and easily, clearly loved his family with all his heart, and made Lexa feel welcome in his home. She hadn’t felt that kind of paternal welcome since Marcus adopted her when she was younger, and she could tell Clarke loved him deeply.

While Clarke was otherwise distracted at the party, Jake had ushered her into the kitchen to talk - initially about acting, but the topic soon moved to her intentions with Clarke and also a fair warning about how invasive the media could be. 

After the conversation had tapered off, Lexa plucked up the courage to ask for a picture with him, if only so she could shove it in Anya’s face.

Lexa pressed a kiss of her own against Clarke’s warm skin, smiling at the goosebumps that formed in response, “When you were off talking to one of your cousins. He came over to give me  _ ‘The Talk’ _ .”

Clarke made a displeased noise and shuffled awkwardly until she was facing Lexa. Lexa kissed the tip of her nose and grinned when Clarke scrunched it up after.

“He did  _ not _ give you The Talk, we’re grown adults!” Clarke sounded quite indignant and on the verge of a rant when Lexa shushed her gently.

“It wasn’t The Talk exactly, more of a  _ ‘I hope you know that dating is different with everyone watching’  _ and  _ ‘if you hurt Clarke, Abby will destroy you’  _ and then  _ ‘fair warning, Clarke is a total handful-’” _

“He definitely did  _ not _ say that last part.” Clarke butted their heads softly in reprimand as Lexa laughed and conceded that, no, Jake had not said Clarke was a handful.

Raven sauntered into the room with the greeting of, “Nah, she’s definitely more than two handfuls, right Lexa?” and a wink, to which Clarke’s jaw dropped and Lexa blushed a deep red.

_ “Raven. _ God you’re so embarrassing.” Clarke glared at her friend as Lexa took the opportunity to bury her face in Clarke’s hair. “What are you even doing here?”

Raven produced two big bags of popcorn and two bigger bottles of wine, “You invited me to watch the finale with you, I’m assuming lover-girl here distracted you from keeping an eye on the time.”

Checking her watch, Lexa realised there was only a few minutes until the finale started, and she sat up to search for her phone, absently listening to Raven as she did so.

“By the way, Lexa’s little stunt with her photo of her and your dad has sent the internet into a near meltdown.” Lexa’s eyes widened when she unlocked her phone to near endless notifications, “If you plan on keeping this on the down-low, you’re not doing a great job.”

_ Shit. _ Even looking at the first few replies to her tweet, Lexa could see that Raven had a good point. Though there were the obvious “she’s so hot” tweets that - while flattering - Lexa had learned to filter out, there were a large number of tweets that questioned why exactly Clarke had invited her co-star to her  _ family  _ Christmas party. Many were even citing how much they’d been together recently.

Lexa frowned, “Sorry, Clarke, I didn’t think about it…”

Clarke rolled her eyes, “If anyone should be concerned, it’s you. Nobody on this planet thinks I’m straight, but you could be outed if we’re not careful.”

Raven turned on the TV and then meandered back into the kitchen, letting them have their privacy.

Lexa trailed the tips of her fingers up the inside of Clarke’s forearm, tracing the veins there until they faded out and then back down.

“I… I want to come out, though. It’s never been something I’ve ever hidden before, even Titus has come around to the idea. Especially if it means we don’t have to hide.” The words were mumbled but sincere, and Lexa didn’t even feel nervous at the prospect.

Clarke however, had concerns, “If you come out, it’ll be about you, not us. I’d hide for the next twenty years if it meant you were happy.” Not giving Lexa time to even blush, she pushed on, “And I just want you to be sure. When I came out, I got a lot of shit from certain people. Not just homophobes, but from people from within the community itself. The biphobia was a bit of a rude awakening, honestly. I don’t want you getting hurt.”

Lexa kissed her softly, sighed against her lips before pulling back and curling a lock of Clarke’s hair back behind her ear, “We can talk about it more later, but Raven has been hiding in the kitchen for a while now and it’s cruel. Also, we have a show to livetweet, right?”

Clarke grinned and sat up, calling Raven back in and pulling up twitter on her phone before turning to them both, “Pre-show selfie?”

Raven groaned but leaned in, “You literally don’t know how to keep anything low-key do you? Amazing.”

* * *

 

The livetweet was going well, and after surviving the initial onslaught of frenzied tweets when they revealed not only were they both livetweeting, but sat together and watching the show, things had calmed enough for Lexa to feel comfortable about it.

Clarke was very clearly not suited for tweeting while watching however, as she kept getting distracted by the show and gripping Lexa’s arm tightly whenever she was excited for a scene.

Which was basically every scene, Lexa discovered.

Finally, it was the last ten minutes of the episode, and Lexa was busy responding to a tweet about a stunt she had just done when Clarke nudged her, “Hey, it’s the kiss soon, might want to get ready.”

Raven snorted where she was sat in the chair across from them, fully decked out in Grounded merch - including a t-shirt with both of them on that she had only revealed when she took her jacket off, “I know like half the fanbase is expecting it, but honestly I don’t think you’ll have any of them left to watch next season, they’re all going to die.” She emphasised her statement with a loud gulp of her wine.

As predicted, Lexa’s phone nearly froze with the number of mentions when Jaime and Emily kissed. To add fuel to the fire, Clarke practically sat herself on Lexa’s lap to press a kiss to her cheek and take a picture.

 

**@TheRealGriffC:** Okay be honest, who *didn’t* see that coming? Fake blood tastes bad though #LifeLessonsFromJaimily pic.twitter.com/jHAYOL3Ji3

 

**@LexW00ds:** @TheRealGriffC you didn’t have a mouth full of it, unlike me #CountYourselfLucky

 

They tweeted well beyond the end of the episode, realising the fans weren’t quite ready to stop just yet. Though by the time Raven left, both Clarke and Lexa themselves were tired, and reluctantly called it a night.

Lexa retrieved her keys from the coffee table and turned to find Clarke standing next to her, hands behind her back and a sly smile on her face. Without speaking, Clarke presented her with a red snapback, clearly personalised with ‘#Jaimily’ in black on the front.

“You didn’t.”

Clarke laughed and pecked her on the cheek, “I clearly did. I have a matching one, only it’s black with red writing.”

Lexa shook her head and walked down the stairs, still in awe of the size of Clarke’s new house. She arrived at the front door and turned expectantly to Clarke, only pausing for a moment before kissing her gently on the corner of her lips.

Clarke rolled her eyes when she went to leave and wrapped an arm around Lexa’s neck, pulling her back in for a much deeper kiss. 

Lexa pulled away a little dazed, and Clarke grinned, “You didn’t think you were getting away with that half-assed kiss did you? It’s like you don’t know me, honestly.”

* * *

 

While Lexa was enjoying her much needed break from work, she was excited for the interview later that day with Clarke. Miller decided it would be best if people found out that Lexa would be returning for the second season early, so as to quell any fears about Jaime being dead.

So far, a majority of the fanbase seemed to believe she lived, but Lexa had received more than a few panicked tweets and letters in fanmail and she hated feeling like she was the cause of it.

The interview was with Bellamy Blake, a man whom Lexa had never met but knew Clarke had had several dealings with in the past.

Suffice to say Clarke wasn’t fond of him, and as a result Lexa was none too pleased with him either.

Despite this, they exchanged pleasantries and set up the cameras, for once Bellamy was doing an interview without a live studio audience and Lexa and Clarke were sat in chairs on a small, simple set.

He asked a few questions about the show and their characters, in case those watching the interview were not familiar with it already, and then he jumped into the fan questions.

He read the first off the card and grinned, “Clarke, you’ve now kissed both Finn and Lexa on the show, who was your favourite?”

Clarke shook her head with a small grin, “Nope, no favourites. Both were enjoyable.”

A hazy memory came to mind and Lexa turned to her, scandalised, “You said you had a preference!”

Bellamy laughed loudly and Clarke clenched her jaw, “Of all the things you remember from the wrap party, it’s that?” Lexa shrugged in response, and Clarke laughed a little, “Wow, okay, fine I have a preference.”

Bellamy leaned forward, “And that preference is…”

Lexa knew he didn’t miss Clarke’s subconscious glance towards Lexa, nor the way her eyes darted down to her mouth as she licked her lips, but he didn’t bring it up.

The fans would notice regardless, she was sure.

Clarke straightened in her seat, “Well, I don’t think you can really compare the two. The scenes I had with Finn were very different to the one with Lexa. Also Lexa was like, covered in fake blood, hardly a fair comparison.”

Bellamy nodded but kept his grin, “That’s not an answer.”

Clarke laughed, “But it’s as much of an answer as you’re ever getting.”

Bellamy conceded and leaned back, flipping to his next question, “Okay, Lexa, this fan wants to know if Jaime is really dead.”

Lexa knew Bellamy had been cleared to ask that question beforehand; this interview’s main purpose was to reveal her return to the show next season.

“I’ll be returning to the show as Jaime, so it’s safe to say she survives her injuries.” She smiles, “Miller and the entire writing room as well as the cast know how important her character is to people, they wouldn’t throw that away so carelessly.”

Clarke jumped in, “Besides, do you really think I’d let them kill her off without even getting to make out with her properly? Who do you think I am?”

Lexa rolled her eyes and elbowed Clarke, who responded with a short laugh before she turned back to Bellamy.

“In the meantime, you’re both currently shooting a movie together, Containment, tell us a little about that…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay people, the time has come for me to warn you about the lack of updates: I won't be updating until after June 6th, which is after my exams.  
> The next chapter - and the chapter I had planned to write instead of this - is very VERY plot heavy and I don't have the time to devote the effort needed to make it as good as I want it to be.  
> I wish I could keep writing through my exam period but it's just not feasible, I hope you understand (it's one of the reasons this chapter is the shortest yet, I have zero time to write).  
> Now that's out the way - this fic hit 20,000+ hits, 1700+ kudos and nearly 1000 subscriptions, which is absolutely astonishing to me. Thank you so much for reading and commenting and saying hi on tumblr, it makes my day :)


	10. Trending Family Feud (and a Knight on a Shining Suzuki)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some Soft Family Angst leads to some Soft Clexa Fluff, Raven continues to concern Lexa, and the Griffin family drop bombshells all over the place.

“Okay Lexa,” Dante said, squinting at the screen as it replayed the previous take, “we’re going to need you to do that again.”

Lexa frowned over at him while Roan looked on, amused, “Sorry, did I skip a line?”

Dante cleared his throat, “Not at all, it’s just, when you kissed him…” He trailed off, looking for words to describe what he’d just seen.

Clarke was having difficulty containing her laughter, “You frowned, I’ve never seen someone so fucking sad during a kiss.”

Dante tilted his head in acknowledgment, and Lexa turned to Roan who smirked at her, “It was like kissing a cardboard cutout Lex, sorry.”

Lexa grumbled under her breath, something about him “having a lot of experience with cardboard cutouts” but moved dutifully to her starting mark. She had done plenty of stage kisses with men before, of course, only Roan had a particularly impressive beard and it was throwing her off.

Clarke certainly didn’t have a beard.

Clarke had soft skin and plump lips and flushed cheeks-

_ ‘But my job right now isn’t to make out with Clarke. Pull it together.’ _

She took a steadying breath and opened the scene again.

They only had a week of shooting left, and not too long after that Season 2 of Grounded was due to start production.

Just the thought of immediately moving onto another set for more running around and stunts exhausted her. It wasn’t that she wasn’t grateful for the work, but a little time to breathe would be nice. She hadn’t even seen Marcus in months, something he refused to stop bringing up in their frequent phone calls.

Not to mention the media attention on her after the Cage incident. It seemed they hadn’t grown bored of speculating, and Clarke’s favourite rumour was by far the one where Lexa had walked in on Cage cheating on her with Clarke, and punched him in a fit of jealous rage.

Anya was less amused, stopping just short of strangling a particularly persistent reporter just outside their apartment the other day.

In short, Lexa really wanted a few days of uninterrupted relaxation, preferably with Clarke on her large, comfortable couch.

She managed to muster a smile as Roan’s beard scratched her face this time, though his booming laugh still rang out once Dante shouted “cut”.

* * *

 

Lexa was enjoying a rare morning off set when Raven interrupted her phone conversation with Titus with a call of her own.

She was meandering about the tiny kitchen in her temporary apartment near set, opening and closing drawers as Titus spoke carefully down the phone, “It would do wonders for your publicity, a confirmation now would override a lot of the… less favourable stories out there currently.”

Lexa sighed, biting the corner of her nail anxiously, “I don’t- If I went I wouldn’t want to do it for good publicity. I couldn’t use them like that, it’s dirty.”

Titus made a placating noise that did very little to actually placate her at all, and after a brief pause he spoke again, “All of the main cast were invited, it needn’t be about you at all-”

“Titus,” She stopped pacing and perched herself on the counter, “Titus I’m a lesbian. If I go to Pride, it kind of ends up being personal regardless of why I went.” She chewed on her lower lip - a habit Clarke told her off for - and continued, “If I went and I wasn’t out, I’d feel like I’d be  _ lying _ to them or something.”

She’d voiced such concerns to Clarke, when the Grounded cast had first received the offer to be a part of the parade at LA Pride, but her girlfriend had hugged her close and reassured her that it wasn’t lying because it was nobody’s business but her own, unless she was ready for that kind of announcement. 

Hearing it and believing it are somewhat different, however.

Titus had just taken a breath - no doubt preparing to sway her further - when she got another call on her screen from Raven.

Seizing her chance to escape the conversation, she cut him off, “Titus, I really need to think about it. I promise I’ll consider it.”

She hung up part-way through his long-suffering sigh and clicked on to answer Raven’s call, anticipating her usual conversation topics of downright filthy stuff she’d seen fans say about Lexa on social media, thinly veiled digs for information on Season 2, or teasing complaints about how Clarke was so grumpy because she was sexually frustrated and Lexa  _ “really should take care of that”. _

Instead, Raven spoke so quietly down the line that Lexa could barely hear her, “Lexa? You need to get to Clarke’s place, quick as you can on that sexy hunk of metal you call transport.”

Her attempt at levity was poor at best, and Lexa was already searching the room for her boots and jacket, “Is she okay? Raven what’s wrong?”

Raven let out a breath, “You haven’t seen the news, have you?”

Deep dread was crawling slowly up Lexa’s spine, settling in her chest and constricting her heart, “No I- I’ve been avoiding it recently. Since I punched Cage, I mean.”

Raven laughed weakly, “Yeah, believe me, they’re not talking about you anymore.” Lexa zipped up her jacket and jogged towards the door, grabbing her motorbike keys, “it’s Clarke’s dad.”

_ No _

“No.” Lexa had paused just outside her door, clenching the phone in her hand so tightly she would fear it would snap under any other circumstances.

Raven rushed to explain, “He’s alive! He’s uh, he’s in hospital though. It was all a bit of a shock, he was rushed in early this morning, Clarke was at the hospital until an hour ago.”

“Why didn’t she call me?”

Raven gave a short, sad laugh, “It’s Clarke, some bullshit about not wanting to burden you or something. At least, that’s what she muttered to me just before she fell asleep a few minutes ago when I tried to persuade her to call you.”

Lexa frowned as she approached her bike, “Wait, she doesn’t want me there?”

Raven responded with a tone that carried the eye-roll Lexa couldn’t see, “Of course she wants you there, idiot. She just doesn’t realise that yet. Now get your ass down here, I abandoned some real volatile experiments to play  _ Best Friend in the World _ and I’m a little concerned that I can smell smoke.”

“ _ What? _ ”

“I’m sure it’s fine. Bye!”

Lexa blinked and stared at her phone screen for a moment, marvelling at Raven’s ability to both lighten the mood and worry her further  _ simultaneously _ before shoving it back into her pocket and straddling her bike, pulling away as quickly as she could manage.

* * *

 

Lexa pulled up outside Clarke’s gates, or at least as close as she could to Clarke’s gates without running over the veritable  _ horde _ of reporters congregated there.

“Shit” she breathed, taking her helmet off warily as more and more of the crowd noticed her.

Lexa wasn’t in the habit of actively hating reporters, at least, she tried to avoid it as much as possible. They had a job they were paid to do, and as long as they stayed out of her way for the most part, she had no problem with it.

Yet as the crowd moved closer, Lexa was horribly reminded of a swarm of particularly nasty hornets she’d seen on the Discovery Channel once, and elected to make a break for it.

She tucked her helmet under her arm like a football and ducked her head, pushing her way through the group closest to her.

“It’s Lexa Woods!”

“Why are you here?”

“Did Clarke call you here?”

“Did you and Clarke get over the Cage’s betrayal?”

“Any comments regarding Clarke’s emotional state right now?”

At the last question, shouted nearly directly down her ear, she paused and shot a glare at the reporter before continuing slowly forwards. Looking forwards, she could see gates just a few metres ahead, and managed to block out a majority of the invasive questions.

That is, until a vaguely familiar voice spoke out just to her left, “Lexa, why don’t you tell us why you really punched Cage Wallace?”

Lexa took a steadying breath and locked eyes with the journalist. She recognized her from several reports on Clarke and Niylah’s relationship a few years ago, Ontari, she thought.

Lexa tried for a grim smile, “I’m sure your readers are very curious, but I’m afraid it’s not of their business. Now, if you’ll excuse me.”

She moved to brush past Ontari, but the woman just stepped with her, blocking her path, “You’re a public figure, it’s everyone’s business.”

Lexa’s smile dropped but she didn’t respond, once again going to step around Ontari. She thought about what Titus had told her about the woman; tenacious, rude, and the Glacier Gossip website’s most prized reporter.

Considering the number of exclusives that Cage Wallace had given the site over the years, she would bet that he’d let slip a little more of what he saw that day than he’d initially promised.

Ontari was still stood solidly in her way, smirk firmly on her face, at least until the gates opened and Raven limped out, walking stick in hand and scowl on her face.

“Get lost, my balance is fucking terrible today, and I don’t think any of you want to be hit with the kind of publicity that knocking down a woman with a mechanical leg would bring.”

Lexa hid her grin mostly successfully as the crowd parted, though she thinks Raven most likely heard her choked laugh as she  _ accidentally _ let her cane slam down on Ontari’s foot.

Raven beamed at her, as if she hadn’t just beaten her way through an invasive crowd of knats, and gestured for her to follow and leaning in close as she drew near, “About time you got here, Woods. I’m running out of comforting things to say and I can’t revert to my usual jokes about her tits. Feels wrong somehow.”

Lexa shot her a sidelong glance that Raven gleefully ignored, grasping her arm and dragging her towards the gates. Her leg, Lexa noted, was looking surprisingly more steady than it was just moments ago when she threatened the reporters.

Raven noticed her assessment and gifted her with a sly smile, letting the gates close behind them, “Let’s get you to Clarke.”

* * *

 

Raven lost her smile as she walked up the stairs, pausing in front of Clarke’s door, her hand hovering over the wood. She turned to Lexa, “Whatever she might say to you, she wants you here, trust me. I’ve been her friend for a long time, and Clarke is stubborn as Hell about accepting any kind of support.”

Lexa chewed on her lip and nodded, having realised this about Clarke on her own but not understanding the true extent until now. Raven broke the moment and grinned widely, slapping Lexa on the shoulder and pushing her towards the door, “Good luck in there, try to keep the sex noises to the minimum, wouldn’t want the vultures out there to think you’re cheating on Cage.”

Lexa appreciated Raven’s ability to lighten the mood even in awful situations, so she smiled, “I doubt they’d assume I was with Clarke considering what they think happened.”

Raven winked as she walked away, “Clarke? No, I wouldn’t want them to think you’re cheating on Cage with  _ my  _ fine ass. As if you could pull this, Woods.”

Lexa didn’t even grace her with an eyeroll, instead bracing herself and knocking on Clarke’s door, holding still to hear the shuffling inside. She heard muted footsteps approach the door.

“Raven? I told you, I’m fine, just tired.” Clarke sounded a little more than tired, in fact, Lexa thought she sounded exhausted, and Lexa’s chest ached.

“Not Raven,” Lexa corrected quietly, resting her forehead against the cold door as she heard the soft thud of Clarke doing the same, “Can I come in?”

“Right, of course it’s not Raven, I knew something was different,” there was a clearly forced chuckle, “there have been 100% fewer compliments on my cleavage in the past ten minutes.”

Lexa smiled thinly despite knowing Clarke couldn’t see it, “I can definitely fix that if you want,” her smile was unforced this time as she heard a snort from the other side of the wood, “you’re going to have to let me in though, I don’t have X-Ray vision.”

The door opened silently, Clarke leaning haggardly against the frame and looking fondly at Lexa, “I don’t know if I’m looking my best honestly, maybe save the compliments for when I’m wearing something other than my old gryffindor shirt and pokemon pajama pants.”

Lexa laughed quietly, stepping forwards and tracing a hand over Clarke’s outstretched arm, “Are you kidding? Super sexy.”

There was a pause as they stood in the doorway, smiling at each other until Clarke’s smile faded once more and she looked drained again. Lexa was reluctant to break the quiet, wanting to let Clarke speak comfortably and when she was ready.

That moment came sooner than Lexa was expecting, as moments later, Clarke whispered, “I’m so tired, you don’t have to be here, I’m sorry.”

Her voice cracked and Lexa ached once more at how clearly exhausted Clarke must be to be so outwardly upset. She opened her arms and after a brief moment of hesitation, Clarke pressed against her, wrapping her own arms around Lexa’s waist and squeezing hard. Lexa smoothed a hand up Clarke’s spine and ran her fingers through slightly tangled blonde hair.

She gently guided Clarke back towards the bed, lying down first and tugging until Clarke curled up half-on-top of her, head resting on Lexa’s chest.

They lay quietly for a few minutes, Lexa feeling Clarke grow heavier and heavier against her as she relaxed further.

Finally, Lexa decided to broach the subject, “How are you? Honestly?”

Clarke let out a puff of air against her collarbone, not speaking for a moment as she tightened her grip on Lexa, “I was so scared, Lex. I still am. He’s supposed to be strong and healthy and happy, not- not in a hospital bed.”

Lexa closed her eyes as she felt Clarke shake against her, not crying, but clearly not okay.

Clarke continued in a rush, as if she was trying to get it all out of her as quickly as possible, “They said he has a problem with his heart, I can’t remember the specific words they used, but they’re going to have to operate.” She paused, taking a breath, “He’s been having chest pain for  _ weeks _ and he never even  _ thought _ to get checked. He’s married to a  _ doctor! _ ”

She fell silent again, pushing her face further into Lexa as if in an attempt to block out the world. Lexa held her, pressing a kiss to the top of her head and scratching softly at her scalp.

Lexa wanted to ask what his chances of survival were; whether the surgeons thought the operation would be successful, but was struggling to find ways to ask without sounding harsh.

“Did they- do they know if-” She started, trailing off when she still didn’t know how to ask. 

Clarke seemed to understand though, and sounded sleepy as she answered, “They said it has a ‘high chance of success’, so…”

Lexa sighed in relief, knowing Jake Griffin would have access to the best medical care in the country. 

“That’s good, then.” She paused as Clarke nodded slightly against her, snuggling closer and humming against her skin, “Get some sleep, baby, you’re worn out.”

She felt the turn of a smile against her collarbone and so wasn’t surprised when Clarke lifted her tired eyes to her, “ _ Baby? _ ”

Lexa smiled, “Go to sleep.”

Clarke pressed a soft kiss to her lips before ducking her head to rest on Lexa’s chest again, “I like it.” She mumbled, nudging closer still before settling against Lexa, “Thank you.”

Lexa pulled her as close as possible before closing her own eyes, “Anytime.”

* * *

 

They were awakened mid-nap by a muffled  **_BOOM_ ** from the direction of Raven’s workshop. Lexa sat up in alarm, forgetting she had Clarke in her arms and narrowly avoiding tossing her off the bed. Clarke, for her part, seemed completely unperturbed by the noise, grumbling at Lexa to lie back down and refusing to open her eyes.

Lexa lay back slowly, trying to calm her frantic heartbeat, “Was that- was that  _ Raven?” _

Clarke sighed and opened her eyes, though only just enough for Lexa to see a sliver of blue, “Yeah. It’s fine,” She nudged at Lexa’s chest insistently with her forehead, “now lie down again, I was super comfy.”

Lexa laughed lowly, settling back, “Are you sure we don’t need to, you know, check on her?”

Clarke’s reply was muffled against her, “Nah, she does it a lot. Special effects nerd; it’s her job.”

It was a few minutes later when Clarke broke the silence, “I can’t sleep.”

Lexa frowned, peering down at Clarke, “Do you want to talk more?”

Clarke was quiet, breathing softly against Lexa before replying, “I think I want to go back to the hospital. I was… Not the calmest when I visited earlier.”

“That’s normal, babe, you were in shock.” Lexa reassured her, “I can drive you? I came on my bike, I have a spare helmet.”

Clarke smiled up at her, “Come over here with plans to whisk me away? How romantic.”

Lexa’s cheeks coloured just a little even as she rolled her eyes, “Come on, we have to fight through a crowd of bloodthirsty reporters to even get to my bike, I might even need to flex a little.” She finished with a wink, prompting Clarke to burst into genuine laughter and a pleased smile to spread across Lexa’s face.

Clarke stood and moved to her closet, shouting to Lexa from inside, “You have no idea how much you sounded like Raven just then.”

Lexa feigned offense as she also stood from the bed, searching for where she tossed her jacket in the room, “I should probably be offended, and why is Raven flexing near you?”

“Jealous?” Clarke re-appeared fully dressed in tight jeans and a sweater, reaching for a hairbrush to tackle her tangled mane of hair. She smiled when she heard Lexa snort in response.

Ready to leave, Clarke left the room with Lexa close behind, their fingers tangled loosely between them.

Lexa tugged her to a stop just next to the front door, “They’re going to wonder why I’m here after you tried to steal my lover.” The only thing betraying her amusement was the slight twitch of her lips as she tried to contain her laughter.

“Why don’t we just tell them?” Clarke asked quietly, playing with Lexa’s fingers as she waited for a response.

Lexa became serious in an instant, “I’ve wanted to come out for a while, I thought you said it might not be a good idea.”

“No,” Clarke stepped closer, “I said I wanted you to think about it carefully. To be honest? I’m so tired right now with all the stuff with my dad that the thought of hiding myself with you is… it’s too much. But I will, if you want.”

Lexa brushed a kiss across her cheek, “It’ll take the focus off your dad, at least, and what better way to come out than by announcing I’m dating Clarke Griffin?”

Clarke swatted at her shoulder and dragged her out the house, gripping her hand firmly and almost marching towards the gate, still swarming with reporters.

They started pushing through the mass, Clarke being a little more  _ assertive  _ than Lexa had been, roughly jamming her shoulders against anyone unlucky enough to not move out of her way.

She paused, turning to Lexa, “I just realised I have no idea where you parked.”

Lexa grinned and put both hands on Clarke’s shoulders, maneuvering her so she pointed in the direction of her bike. They almost made it before Ontari stepped in front of Clarke, who bounced off her with an affronted  _ oof.  _ Clarke grumbled as the crowds pushed closer again, undoing all of her hard work and elbow jabs.

“Clarke, how long have you been sleeping with Cage Wallace?”

“Did you know Lexa was dating him?”

Lexa chuckled under her breath and started push forwards, only stopping when she heard Clarke’s reply, “Lexa isn’t dating Cage, she’s dating me, fuck off.”

This time, Lexa’s laugh was loud as she pulled Clarke away from the stunned reporters, her face red up to her blonde roots in anger.

“As if I’d sleep with that- that  _ reptile.” _

Lexa handed Clarke the spare helmet, kissing her on the forehead as she did so, “I know you wouldn’t babe, you clearly have  _ excellent  _ taste.”

This time it was Clarke who laughed as she swung onto the bike behind her girlfriend, “You’re lucky your ego is attractive.”

_ Very lucky,  _ Lexa thought as she pulled away from the curb and Clarke tightened her grip,  _ very lucky indeed. _

* * *

 

By the time they arrived at the hospital, it was an hour later and Jake Griffin was sat up, frowning at his phone.

He barely looked up as they entered, instead greeting them with, “I’ve been trending worldwide all day.”

Clarke grimaced, thanking Lexa quietly as her girlfriend pulled up two chairs from the side of the room, “Yeah, people won’t mind their own business.”

Jake looked up, and Lexa saw that while pale and clearly exhausted, he looked remarkably chipper, “No, I’ve been trending worldwide all day at number one, but about ten minutes ago, a new trend kicked me down to number two. Who are Clexa and why are they stealing my near-death spotlight?”

He remained stoic for a few seconds more before breaking into what Lexa could only classify as giggles. 

Clarke rolled her eyes but the smile on her face belied the relief she was clearly feeling, “They have you on some good drugs then?”

“Oh,” Jake leaned back into the pillows, “the  _ best.  _ I haven’t felt this relaxed since… ever. Is that sad?” He directed the question first at Clarke, who simply raised an eyebrow, before huffing, “Lexa, is that sad?”

“Not at all.” Lexa deadpanned, causing another roar of laughter to burst from Jake.

He turned to her, “You’re my favourite future daughter-in-law,” he then turned to Clarke, ignoring Lexa’s sputtering next to the bed, “she’s funny, keep her.”

He rested back against the pillows, giving Lexa and Clarke time to collect themselves.

Just in time for him to shock them again.

“Lexa, you should go to Australia with the family next week.”

Clarke choked on air and Lexa just stared at him, “I’m- uh- sorry?”

He grinned, “Family reunion, every five years, more often if we can manage it. I’m not going anymore, obviously, so we have a spare ticket. You should go.” He turned expectantly to his daughter, “Clarke?”

Clarke opened her mouth a few times, glancing sideways at Lexa, “Does mom know about this?”

“She suggested it!”

“Right, of course she did.” Clarke nodded to herself, then looked at her silent girlfriend, “Want a holiday?”

Lexa recovered enough to smile weakly, “I’d love to.”

Jake clapped with delight then regarded them with a frown, “Now will one of you explain why you wanted to steal my trending thunder?”

* * *

 

Lexa drove Clarke back to her house after the nurses refused to push into visiting hours any more, even if they did love the show. Reporters were surprisingly scarce around the complex, and from Raven’s smug, soot-dusted smile as she opened the gate, Lexa had a feeling it wasn’t just a stroke of luck.

“Welcome home lovebirds,” she turned to Lexa, “when I told you to comfort her, I didn’t mean you should tell the entire world you’re boning-” Clarke wrinkled her nose “-and then carry her off on your noble steed.”

Clarke shoved past her, hiding her smile by looking down at the ground as Raven followed with Lexa in tow, continuing on, “Seriously, girls are on twitter wishing you’d show up outside their houses like some kind of leather-wearing Prince Charming on a shiny bike.”

“They’re not saying that,” Lexa said, scrolling through her poor, abused twitter feed, “I’m mainly seeing a lot of capital letters, exclamation marks, an overuse of hashtags and the same picture of me kissing Clarke’s forehead this morning.”

Clarke snatched the phone out of her hands and smiled at the picture, prompting Raven to let out a sound of disgust, “Ugh, quit being gross around me.”

Clarke laughed, sitting on the couch and handing the phone back, “What? My ass looks great in that picture.”

Raven and Lexa made simultaneous sounds of agreement, before Raven spoke up, “And the multiple fans I follow with my secret fan account  _ are  _ saying they want Lexa to whisk them away on her bike. I won’t tell you what they want her to do to them after she’s carried them off but you get the idea.”

Through experience, and a truly horrifying night going through her tumblr tag with Raven cackling next to her, Lexa had learned it was best not to ask.

She noticed Titus had sent her several panicked texts, with the final one simply saying “Some warning next time would be appreciated.”

The idea that she’d worn him down pleased her.

Her phone beeped with a twitter notification, 

 

**@theRealGriffC** : tfw your girlfriend pays more attention to her phone than you #rude #ThatSmoulderThough  pic.twitter.com/jDYQAL1Ji8

 

The picture had been taken just moments earlier as she scrolled through her texts, and Lexa looked up to find Clarke grinning cheekily at her and Raven leaving the room, muttering under her breath about them needed to “get a room.”

Lexa elected not to point out they had an entire house.

Clarke cleared her throat, “So?”

Lexa shot her a blank look, to which Clarke sighed and snatched her phone once more, “You have to make it official on your twitter as well, you can’t leave me hanging here babe.”

Without waiting for an answer, Clarke took a quick selfie and tapped the screen for a minute, twisted so Lexa couldn’t see what she’d written.

Finally, Clarke grinned triumphantly, “Done.”

 

**@LexW00ds:** my beautiful, perfect girlfriend absolutely did not steal my phone to tweet this pic.twitter.com/lHBSH3Yp7 

 

Predictably, the replies flooded in, and Lexa was loathe to admit this sort of… she hated using the word ‘claim’ but that’s what it was. A public claim on each other, and it curled inside Lexa, warm and soft.

Clarke kissed her then, long but gentle, before pulling away slowly, “I’m going to shower, I smell like hospital.”

Lexa nodded, watching her leave the room before opening twitter once more,

 

**@LexW00ds: @TheRealGriffC** is lucky she’s cute

 

She paused, contemplating the tweet before adding something, deciding to throw them a bone and then sending it. Moments later, it popped up on her account.

 

**@LexW00ds: @TheRealGriffC** is lucky she’s cute #Clexa

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Believe me, no one is more disappointed with how long this update took than I am. You can try but you'll never succeed in that one.  
> That said I hope you guys enjoyed it, shoutout to Maddy for being a stand-up friend and Clexa fic supplier, Sarah for reading this entire fic last night and live-messaging her reactions (and the blog title), and Newsies (happy birthday! and I told you I'd see what I could do :P)  
> I'm firmly into my summer holidays and also chest deep in the Wayhaught ship, but have every intention of continuing to write this because Clexa are timeless.  
> Thanks for reading, and find me on tumblr at hoodieheda (if you haven't already)

**Author's Note:**

> I have SO MANY ideas for this fic but I'm always open for suggestions. Find me on tumblr at hoodieheda to yell at me to write, because I'm a Uni student and excellent at procrastinating.


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